American Civil-Military Relations: Argumentative Essay
US ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE
Intermediate Level Education (ILE) Common Core
C100: Foundations
C171: Argumentative Essay
Module C160- American Civil-Military Relations
Submitted by MAJ David Nicoll
The purpose of the argumentative essay is to assess written communication skills. The challenge is to persuade the reader of the validity of the thesis presented and convince the reader of the argument. It is also to argue why it will assist students in their duties as a Field Grade officer over the next 10-years of their career and the importance for professional military education (PME). The module addressed in this paper is American Civil-Military Relations that encompasses two lessons, C161-Civil Military Relations: Theory and History, and C162-The Military Profession and the Current Civil Military Relationship. The focus is on the theories of civil-military relations and military professionalism. The thesis of this paper is the necessity to sustain a balance and division of authority between the civilian component of our society and those officials elected to represent us, and that of the military and combatant commanders established to protect that very society. Directly tied to this is the importance of maintaining military professionalism in the dynamic environment of civil-military relations now, and into the future.
Civil-Military relations encompass the relationship of society and the armed forces, how they communicate, how they interact, and how they are regulated. We can reflect on the framing of our constitution, and the safeguards established by our founders. The framers created constitutional structures that provided two layers of civilian control of the military. The first is the clear subordination of the military to civilian authority, and the second is the divided control of the military and security policy between the executive and legislative branches. The American Constitution assigns
Intermediate Level Education (ILE) Common Core
C100: Foundations
C171: Argumentative Essay
Module C160- American Civil-Military Relations
Submitted by MAJ David Nicoll
The purpose of the argumentative essay is to assess written communication skills. The challenge is to persuade the reader of the validity of the thesis presented and convince the reader of the argument. It is also to argue why it will assist students in their duties as a Field Grade officer over the next 10-years of their career and the importance for professional military education (PME). The module addressed in this paper is American Civil-Military Relations that encompasses two lessons, C161-Civil Military Relations: Theory and History, and C162-The Military Profession and the Current Civil Military Relationship. The focus is on the theories of civil-military relations and military professionalism. The thesis of this paper is the necessity to sustain a balance and division of authority between the civilian component of our society and those officials elected to represent us, and that of the military and combatant commanders established to protect that very society. Directly tied to this is the importance of maintaining military professionalism in the dynamic environment of civil-military relations now, and into the future.
Civil-Military relations encompass the relationship of society and the armed forces, how they communicate, how they interact, and how they are regulated. We can reflect on the framing of our constitution, and the safeguards established by our founders. The framers created constitutional structures that provided two layers of civilian control of the military. The first is the clear subordination of the military to civilian authority, and the second is the divided control of the military and security policy between the executive and legislative branches. The American Constitution assigns