Americans have a problem with our military. It isn't that they are incompetent or insensitive about diversity issues. Nor is it that they are oppressing us with the power of their weapons. No, the real problem is that for the last thirty-something years, the US military has become an ever more alien organization to the rest of America, without us even seeming to be conscious of this fact.
The disconnect between the military and the average American can be seen most of all in the half-worshipful attitude a lot of us (including me) have for our boys in uniform. While this might seem like a positive thing - and in most ways it is - it is also a sign of just how much the military has ceased to become a part of mainstream culture.
The main cause of this is the fact that we don't have conscription - in the form of the draft - anymore. In the days when any man might be taken in to the army in a time of war, to fight for his country regardless of his own personal desires or philosophy, the military was just as often your next door neighbor as it was the ultimate concrete expression of America's might. That commonality of fear, that the occurrence of war might bring you, your son, your brother, or your father to the front, where they might die - often horribly - for the sake of their country, also created an intimacy with the military (accompanied by a certain degree of resentment) that was healthy in many ways, as it's kind of hard to worship Bill Johnson from next door or your younger brother Timmy.
However, in the days during and after the Vietnam War, the costs and realities of the war on the ground there and the increasing influence of pacifists in our politics at the time (not to mention the draft-dodgers from the upper classes) resulted in the abolition of the institution. This resulted in the military becoming an entirely professional organization, elite in the sense that the young men and women were there of their own will and those in charge had the time to pick out those with potential and use them properly. However, as the last few decades have passed, this has resulted in the military coming primarily from one of three areas of our society... individuals from military families, petty criminals who chose military service over jail time, and individuals who wished to join the military either for the benefits of discipline, the skills taught there, or the educational and other entitlement benefits afforded to those who earned an honorable discharge at the end of their service. While this has undeniably given us the best military on the face of the planet, it has also resulted in a sort of political and social segregation of the military from the rest of us. This isn't even mentioning the end of the draft has put an undue burden on those who are part of our military in the last ten years, as too many of them have spent far too much time in a foreign land, with no decent relief.
One of the greatest dangers of a military becoming its own individual social island within a democratic republic is the danger of the possible future rise of military dictatorship. At present, this danger is small, though if politicians keep treating the military as their own personal toy, it becomes more likely. This danger will increase, as the older generals retire and those of my generation and that of my older cousins gain their stars, having grown up with the military being a force with roots only in its own 'soil', separate from the rest of the nation. This danger is enhanced by the increasingly poor management of the safeguards for veterans' benefits and the tendency of our current government toward political brinksmanship and legislative chicken races. To be blunt, a nation that does not protect its veterans will have no right to complain when said veterans decide to take things into their own hands.
As a side note, this situation is absolutely ideal for the rise of a charismatic leader with a quick tongue to power. Beware of orators in a nation where the military is loyal first to the government and second to the people.
Another possible consequence of this disconnect is the downsizing of the military due to perceived waste. While military forces around the world are notorious money pits, that does not mean that they do not perform a function equivalent to their cost. The primary value of a military in the current world is as a deterrent to those with territorial ambitions, such as China (or Iran), and in the ability to obliterate a threat without resort to extreme measures such as nuclear weapons. Both functions are vital to an international military and economic power such as our nation is. The ability to put down large numbers of troops, their equipment, and the supplies to sustain a campaign in a relatively short period of time without weakening defenses at home unduly is a vital tool for a nation such as ours. Weakening the armed forces reduces this capacity and makes it difficult to keep ambitious nations from swallowing allies and economic partners simply because they can.
I'd like to take a side-note on my mention of the pacifists during and just after the Vietnam War. To be blunt, their treatment of our men in uniform is what hamstrung their movement, an irony I'm sure they don't appreciate. I do not in any way approve of pacifism as a philosophy as it is simply an excuse to let others defend what you are not willing to or become slaves to those who are not pacifists. It causes resentment from those who fought and unnecessary friction between the military and the rest of the country, further widening the divide between our military and the rest of the society. It is not ethically wrong to be a pacifist, but it is irresponsible to be a pacifist if your neighbor or family member is being shot in front of your eyes.
In the end, there is only one solution to the social disconnect between the military and the rest of the country, and that is to reinstate the draft. To many people, this might seem like a horrible idea. Indeed, I would have once agreed with those people. However, conscription spreads the burden of defending the country around, not just focusing it on the elite core of our armed forces. This is a hardship that is also a potential boon, to give us back a country where war is not a distant but constant drain on 'resources' as many choose to put it.
