What’s Progressive About the U.S. Military?

What’s Progressive About the U.S. Military





by Chris Miller

This post is the first in a series about the Progressive Military

It has now been nine years since the 9/11 attacks, and since that day the average American has heard an awful lot about the military. We are fighting extremism worldwide and still have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet many progressives remain uncomfortable with the military, often assuming that it is a conservative organization because political conservatives are so eager to identify themselves with our troops.

This is a series about how the military is a more progressive organization than many people give it credit for. It will help progressives better appreciate the many ways that the U.S. Military operates and accomplishes progressive goals. It is also aimed at conservatives who implicitly trust the military and might see issues like climate change, healthcare, economic opportunity and energy policy as vital issues.

more: http://www.progressivefix.com/what%E2%80%99s-progressive-about-the-u-s-military

progressive or conservative as its civilian leadership.

It is, inherently, non-progressive in that it has an authoritarian structure, yet that same structure can be utilized by progressive leadership to mandate progressive change - desegregation, outlawing torture, enforcing the rules of civilized conduct in war zones (i.e., the concept of war crimes).

We have moved farther from a progressive military in the last generation, with the all-volunteer, professional military - with more persons spending their entire careers with the military, and fewer citizens experiencing military culture, there is a growing distrust by the military of civilian leadership. Not a good thing.

There is a lot of room to mistrust our military's "progressive" credentials.

Socialized medicine.

Socialized dental.

Cradle to grave care.

Short path to retirement.

Numerous benefits.

Everything that some hate about socialism is what makes the military an attractive career, and an easy path to an early retirement.

We also have a lot of community services available. My only disagreement is the "easy path" to early retirement..

I did my 22 years of service and the path has not been easy...Between constant deployments, moving every four years to a new community and never being able to set up roots, being shot at, blown up, dropped from planes, it takes a toll on you body and mind. Most of us long timers, find that our bodies just cant continue the pounding it takes from training, and actual combat operations.
I know I volunteered and I accept the risks but just because the path is clear does not mean it was "easy".

On a additional note, we don't have cradle to grave care, after retirement, I do pay for medical and dental coverage. The medical premiums are pretty cheap, but the dental coverage is pretty expensive for crappy coverage. Our retirement pension is not that great, it is guaranteed, but no way can anyone actually retire on it unless you do 30 or more years, which also negates the easy early retirment.

It is mostly based on performance, PT scores, marksmen, awards, points, etc. So at least on the enlisted side you have a lot of minorities and women in leadership positions. Much more so in a civilian job sector. I don't doubt there may be favoritism played in units here and there when it comes to leaders recommending others to be leaders.

However you don't get a lot of time off either on base or overseas, you don't have due process when it comes to most of the punishments. To take pay and/or give extra duty or more such as jail time requires due process. Also sometimes leaders get carried away with their power they have over soldiers. I say there are many things about it that are progressive. There are certainly aspects of it that are conservative.