The war on military culture

Colonel I would also note the following from the article: Ever the prescient observer, Tocqueville believed a concentration of elites unfamiliar with military affairs could be detrimental to American defense. Sweeping decisions on military culture come quite easily when one remains unaffected by and unaccountable for their consequences.
This is a root cause of the culture war that has become the social science project within the military. It speaks to the requirement that all citizens serve... so that they can better understand the unique nature of the military and what its role is vis a vis the society that it serves.

Having read the article, I perceived that the notions of the liberal/progressive "fixers" aiming to neuter the masculine warrior culture in the U.S. military were primarily setting their sights on the Marine Corps, which (as a whole) has probably the most aggressive warrior culture of our services. The Marines have a tradition of victory resulting from a belief that they are the best, and that has served them well since their founding. Neutering that tradition would be a national tragedy. However, two things (IMHO) work against the military in this matter. First, the population has become increasingly polarized (liberal and conservative). In my observation, many of the most liberal/progressive citizens are young people (based on the notion that as people grow older, they grow more conservative in their views). Many of them have been indoctrinated in universities into the progressive viewpoint, i.e., war and "militarism" based on the masculine ideal is bad, and egalitarianism and gender neutrality is good. I'm not prepared to debate the merits of either side, but as an older guy who is a retired Marine, I am definitely conservative when it comes to making (possibly) detrimental changes to my beloved Corps. Any changes based on social, political or idealistic thinking should be well thought out and tested before they get within a country mile of our military. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Second, since the elimination of the draft and the beginning of the "all-volunteer armed services" in the early 1970's, the military and civil elements of society have become increasingly isolated from each other because nobody is compelled to serve. Therefore, civilians with no military bent can ignore the military element (unless there is a major screw-up that hits the media). Unless they are doing business with the military (and making money), there is no need for most civilians to think about the military or worry about what is going on there. I believe that a reintroduction of mandatory national service, and especially the military draft (equally for both male and female citizens) would ease that, since all families then would have some sort of involvement with the military through the sons and daughters that they send to serve, and the two elements would draw closer.

Thank you sir for the great share.