The American Military Ethic: A Meditation

(Hardback)

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This is a book about military professionals. It outlines the personal reflections of a US Army lieutenant/captain on active duty in Europe during the Vietnam war. There, the enemy was drugs, boredom, racism, and illiteracy. "The American Military Ethic" tells the story of one veteran of basic combat training, of infantry OCS, and of airborne school, who had charge of a nuclear weapons unit in Europe during the late 1960s and early 1970s. First person accounts are blended with a more traditional scholarly examination of professional military training for junior and senior officers (ROTC and the war colleges) and of the American military ethic itself. Toner argues that the American military ethic has undergone a deserved rejuvenation. The ethic itself which is the source of true professionalism has a sacred character, for it involves its "professors" in a solemn oath; to preserve and to protect the Republic. That mission can lead officers to the ultimate test of leadership: whether to accomplish the mission or to safeguard the people for whom the leader is responsible. Still, this book is not of the "guts and glory" variety. It is a study in practical, real leadership; it examines leadership problems of the type real junior officers confront daily; and it explores the kinds of ethical problems real senior officers frequently confront. Its thesis is this - a professional military ethic depends, ultimately, upon the formation of responsible character in (and by) its leaders; for that, sound education is a necessity. ROTC and senior professional military education depend, therefore, upon challenging, serious, and substantial academic experiences. In the end, the American military ethic is a function of the wisdom and virtue learned and taught by its officers. This volume should be of interest to active duty military professionals, students of military history, and veterans of the Vietnam era.

Reviews

Toner's work is valuable for its frankness about a subject ignored by Americans--their Army and what happened when America turned its back on its own Army.-Army History
"Toner's work is valuable for its frankness about a subject ignored by Americans--their Army and what happened when America turned its back on its own Army."-Army History

Author Bio

JAMES H. TONER is Visiting Professor of International Relations at the U.S. Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and Associate Professor of Political Science at Norwich University in Vermont. He is a graduate of Infantry OCS and U.S. Army Airborne School. From 1968 to 1972, Toner was on active duty as a nuclear weapons officer in the U.S. Army, Europe. Recognized for his excellence in teaching, he has recently completed another book, The Sword and the Cross (Praeger, 1992), and has contributed to such journals as Parameters, Military Review, Armed Forces and Society, Army, and Choice.