August 01, 2017
How Trump Is Turning Off Millennials Even More Than He Did Before
One of President Trump’s latest tweetstorms took on a new and concerning target: actively serving members of the United States military. In a flurry of tweets believed to be aimed at helping to pass broader legislation, he suggested that transgender service members incurred unsustainable cost and readiness issues. Targeting both currently serving transgender service members and recruits, the president tweeted they should not be allowed to continue their military careers, nor should they be recruited in the future.
Such a policy is a mistake and would harm the U.S. military. It would jeopardize the readiness of the military in a time of increasing international instability, and demonstrate a remarkable willingness to undercut both institutions and key military leadership. The military’s reticence to implement such a policy is based on a clear understanding both of the facts and the long-term ramifications of such a reckless pronouncement.
From a human capital perspective, Trump’s invectives go against best practices of organizational management, ranging from undercutting senior leaders he would be better served by empowering, such as Secretary of Defense James Mattis and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as conveying to those within the military that their organization may revoke promises and turn on them at any point in time. This is a far cry from the “no soldier, sailor, airmen, or marine left behind” mission that has consistently characterized U.S. military operations and ethos.M
Read the full article at Fortune.
More from CNAS
-
School of War Ep 150: Katherine Kuzminski on the Draft
Katherine Kuzminski, Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at CNAS, joins the show to discuss recruiting and mass mobilization in the event of war. Listen t...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
The Melting Fortress: The United States, Canada, and the Race Against Time in the Arctic
For years, Moscow has prioritized the Arctic as a critical pillar of its national security, opening or refurbishing over 50 military bases and scaling up military operations a...
By Andrew Spafford & Samantha Olson
-
U.S. military must reinforce Guam's crumbling infrastructure
In Guam, one is quickly struck by the juxtaposition of crystal-clear waters with crumbling infrastructure and abandoned cars strewn across the small Pacific island. Following ...
By Taren Sylvester & Evan Wright
-
Preparing for the Possibility of a Draft without Panic
Conscription has never had a political constituency in Congress. It remains a serious, costly, and potentially deadly tool meant to protect Americans from the extreme conseque...
By Taren Sylvester & Katherine L. Kuzminski