Those that choose life in the Army choose life in a crucible. Long hours, physically demanding labor, periodic relocations, frequent deployments, mentally challenging tasks, and combat combine to make a uniquely difficult, yet rewarding, lifestyle. Those that surmount these trials find a singularly close-knit community replete with tight, life-long, bonds. Enduring the stresses and trials of the crucible produces individuals of great strength and an immense capacity for loyalty. But prejudice and associated traits corrode the amalgam produced through life in the intense crucible.
One of the first acts of embarking on life in the military is taking the following oath:
“I Matthew E. Robinson, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, so help me God.”
The oath for officers is quite similar:
"I Matthew E. Robinson, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
Over the course of my career, I took both oaths. It is important to note that both officers and enlisted first swear to support and defend the Constitution. We take the charge to embrace a body of ideas. Now, I must admit that when I first took the oath as a young private, I did not seriously consider the import of those words and ideals expressed in the Constitution and other important foundational documents. I was young, thoughtless, and immature. I wanted the bonus associated with my enlistment to purchase a truck; however, as the years passed and I advanced in rank, my responsibility grew and so did my understanding of the importance of those words and associated ideals.
As the Army and other branches take on the task of combating prejudice in all its forms, some decry the campaign as a wrongheaded assault on a target of dubious worth. They assert that efforts to ensure that the Army is a diverse force free from prejudice and representative of the nation as a whole will erode its effectiveness as a fighting force. As a twenty-seven-year veteran with multiple combat and operational assignments, I must disagree. The success of the Army depends upon trust, trust that the soldier on your right and left will do the right thing and will not cut and run when things get tough, or the rounds start going back and forth in earnest. Any kind of prejudice, bigotry, or partiality elides such trust. Long ago, the United States embarked upon this great experiment of making one out of many through democratic processes. This is a messy, difficult experiment but well worth the effort. And, due to human nature, one that requires constant attention. We build our Army out of individuals from across the nation, bringing in recruits from all stations of life. As the force of a pluralistic nation, we accept individuals regardless of race, sex, or creed. Consequently, they bring with them all their preconceived ideas regarding how we treat one another. The military must take on the task of ensuring that they willingly divest themselves of those behaviors and ideas that are not congruent with the constitution or conducive to military life.
Embracing diversity and inclusion brings its own set of challenges and problems. We often find the unknown threatening. But we have built our military on embracing those noble ideals, and it is these ideals that build a cohesive, unified force. Ideals that all are created equal, that those who wish to strive, and work can excel despite their background, that those of different races and creeds can work together for a common larger goal. These ideals spring from our foundational documents and make a military worth serving in and worth representing all that is best in our nation. As a military must continually recruit and develop leaders, so we must also continually train to ensure that those in the ranks not only are possessed of great physical strength, intelligence, and stamina and that they also embrace these ideals as the intellectual and moral underpinning of our military strength. Those that refuse to accept such ideals cannot adequately represent our nation and must exit the ranks. To allow those who continually harbor prejudice of any type in the ranks destroys trust. This training effort requires a clear-eyed stringent self-examination. Such introspection often uncovers deep, unseen, problems that take great effort to unseat; however, such work pays great dividends. Those willing to shed prejudicial attitudes find life in the military community highly rewarding. They also find that this sense of solidarity carries them through the taxing situations that accompany life in the Army.
We demand much from our service-members. The work is hard, often dangerous, frequently in uncomfortable situations, and often life-threatening, even in training. They deserve to serve in a work environment that does not subject them to the deprivations of bigotry in any form. They represent the best of our nation and have sworn to uphold the ideals found in our constitution and other foundational documents. This oath guides their lives and governs their behaviors. Continual training and self-examination are part of the processes that ensure that our military members comport themselves according to the principles that make our nation great. We need not fear such introspection and training. It only makes our Army stronger, more cohesive. It also spills over into the civilian community when service members eventually hang up their uniforms and return to civilian life better understanding those things that make our nation great.
