August 02, 2017
The Warrior Caste
When the new White House chief of staff, then a Marine general, John Kelly received a knock on the door in November 2010, he became the highest-ranking military officer to lose a child in combat. In addition to his son Robert, killed by a landmine in Afghanistan in 2010, his other son is also an active-duty Marine. The Kellys’ legacy of service is not unusual among military families. This type of lineage has led to generations of flag officers, fathers and sons who reunite while deployed, and families who bear the loss of a war America has forgotten we are fighting.
The U.S. military is comprised today of a large number of families who serve generation after generation. While the service and sacrifice of these families over the years are undeniable, the extent to which fighting America’s wars has become a family business should give us pause.
Read the full article at Slate.
More from CNAS
-
National Security Has a Human Capital Problem and There’s No Fast Way Out
Podcast
National security doesn’t really exist without the military forces and supporting civilians to carry it out. Recruitment remains a problem for the armed forces. And there’s a ...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
The Department of Defense’s Breakthrough Nuclear Moment Risks Slipping Away
Commentary
Unless they act, the Department of Defense’s breakthrough nuclear moment may vanish before it really happens....
By Will Rogers
-
Sharper: National Security Human Capital
Commentary
U.S. national security depends on the nation’s ability to leverage the expertise of uniformed warfighters and the highly skilled civilian professionals who develop and impleme...
By Charles Horn & Taren Sylvester
-
Hegseth Brings the Culture War to Combat
Commentary
The fundamental challenge of military leadership lies in creating cohesive teams that can work together in an environment of mortal risk and, when called upon to do so, use le...
By Dr. Jason Dempsey
