Military Issues
James B. Campbell
Captain USN (retired)
Background
• Originally from Arkansas
• United States Naval Academy- 1974
• 30 years active duty: retired in 2004
• Most significant assignments and qualifications
-Bachelors Degree in Management: Annapolis
- Masters Degree in Political Science: AUM
-One year residence Air War College, Maxwell AFB
-Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer/Professional Nuclear Engineer
-Qualified Military Acquisitions Program
-Commanding Officer USS THORN (DD 988)
-Program Management: Navy Land Attack Program
-Program Management: Cruise Missile Defense Systems
-Professor of Warfighting: Air War College, Maxwell AFB
-Three years assignment with Army; Four years assignment with Air Force
So why do young men and women
decided to join the military services?
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Economic opportunities
Educational opportunities
Patriotism and Service to the Nation
Sense of travel and adventure
Discipline and maturation
Escape from personal situations
The Constitution and the Military
• Commander in Chief: President of the
United States
• Congress assigned authority to declare
war
• Senate approves promotion of all
officers
• Certain limits on Constitutional Rights of
Military members
Supremacy of civilian authority over the military dates back to
George Washington
Should military officers become involved in political affairs—should ex-generals
run for President of the United States and advocate political stances ?
Societal Cost of Military Services
Demographics
“It’s just not fair that people that we ask to
fight our wars are people who join the military
because of economic conditions, because
they have few options.”
Representative Charles B. Rangel
D-New York
New York Times
March 30, 2003
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Minorities overrepresented
Wealthy and underclass underrepresented
Officer ranks politically conservative
Northeastern region fading from ranks
Better educated than population in general
Warrior caste
Discussions of a new military draft
Is the military service a “poor man’s/poor
woman’s fight and a rich man’s war”?
-National median income for all U.S.
households: $41,994
-Mean income for military recruits’
households: $41,141
Source: The Heritage Foundation: Dr. Tim Kane, PhD
“The Demographics of Military Enlistment After 911,
Executive Memorandum #987
Is the military service a “poor man’s/poor
woman’s fight and a rich man’s war”?
-National high school level 18-24 years
old: 75 percent
-Military highs school level 18-24 years
old: 98 percent
Source: The Heritage Foundation: Dr. Tim Kane, PhD
“The Demographics of Military Enlistment After 911,
Executive Memorandum #987
Competition Among Services
Cultural Differences
Should the military services all wear one uniform?
Does friction among the services allow healthy
competition and better systems or harm the
overall good of the nation?
Examples: Navy Missiles, Air Force aircraft,
Marine Expeditionary systems, and Army M1A1
tanks
Competition Among the Military Services
“There is no such thing as a separate
land, sea or air war; therefore we
must now recognize this fact by
establishing a single department of
the armed forces to govern us all.”
General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower,
1945
Competition Among the Military Services
“There were numerous things throughout the
Pacific the Army did not like. One was the
apparent fact that the Navy would do anything to
keep control. They used higher ranking officers
than we had, and so normally retained
command. While Naval officers could command
an Army outfit, it was seldom an Army officer
ever commanded a Navy unit.”
General Henry A. “Hap” Arnold, 1946
Ethics in Warfare
Jus ad Bellum: (Legality in going to War)
Circumstances under which states can wage war
“the use of armed force by another State against the
sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence
of another state”
Principles of right authority, right intention, reasonable
hope, proportionality, and last resort
What about preemptive war?
What about ethnic cleansing and genocide?
Ethics in Warfare
Jus in Bello: (justice in war and limiting war)
“the guidelines for fighting well once war has begun”
• Discrimination and non-combatant immunity
• Proportionality
• Rights of Soldiers
Doctrine of Double effects: civilian causalities are justifiable so long
as their deaths are not intended and accidental
Collateral Damage: destruction unavoidable incurred in the act of
destroying a military target
Does morality exist in warfare and can one side do what ever is
necessary to win?
FRICTION OF WAR
Force that makes the apparently easy, difficult
Action in war is like movement in a resistant
element.
FOG OF WAR
The phrase fog of war was first used by Carl
von Clausewitz in reference to how chaotic
warfare can seem while one is immersed
within it.
Discussions
Backup Slides