A General says that there is something wrong with our 21st century military

Karl Eikenberry was a Lieutenant General as well as our Ambassador to Afghanistan.  He and David Kennedy, an historian, have written perhaps the most sensible op-ed I've read about the separation of the military from we citizens.  This separation is the result of three factors: the volunteer army, the use of technology and the military's movement into nation building.

With regards to the volunteer army the authors quote Samuel Adams, “A standing Army, however necessary it may be at some times, is always dangerous to the Liberties of the People. Soldiers are apt to consider themselves as a Body distinct from the rest of the Citizens.” They also point out that 1/2% of the population serves in the armed forces; in WWII it was 12%.  And many of the current troops are sons and daughters of former troops, so that in some ways the military can be considered a family business.  Looking at our leaders, in 1975 70% of the Congress had served in the armed forces, now it's 20%.  All my male relatives served in WWII.  We all knew guys who moved to Canada to escape serving in Vietnam.  Now, very seldom do I meet someone whose child is serving in the military.

One of the factors leading to the end of the Vietnam War was the television shots of coffins being unloaded at military air bases.  Now, the tv shows photos of drone operators working from home.  The soldier in the field has much more fire power now due to the gains in technology. 

The military is moving beyond simply fighting wars.  In Iraq and Afghanistan, commanders orchestrated, alongside their combat missions, “nation-building” initiatives like infrastructure projects and promotion of the rule of law and of women’s rights.

We have become much more aggressive since we switched to a volunteer army. 

 The Congressional Research Service has documented 144 military deployments in the 40 years since adoption of the all-voluntary force in 1973, compared with 19 in the 27-year period of the Selective Service draft following World War II — an increase in reliance on military force traceable in no small part to the distance that has come to separate the civil and military sectors. The modern force presents presidents with a moral hazard, making it easier for them to resort to arms with little concern for the economic consequences or political accountability. Meanwhile, Americans are happy to thank the volunteer soldiers who make it possible for them not to serve, and deem it is somehow unpatriotic to call their armed forces to task when things go awry.

Congress must reassert its powers.  The last time it formally declared war was WWII.  The 1973 War Powers Act must be amended so that the presidents must seek Congress' approval before going to war, not afterward.

Other measures to strengthen citizen engagement with the military should include decreased reliance on contractors for noncombat tasks, so that the true size of the force would be more transparent; integrating veteran and civilian hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, which would let civilians see war’s wounded firsthand; and shrinking self-contained residential neighborhoods on domestic military bases, so that more service members could pray, play and educate their children alongside their fellow Americans. Schools, the media and organs of popular culture also have a duty to help promote civic vigilance.