| Today, the standard behavior, or norm, of the American public toward the military and soldiers is "Support the Troops." This attitude conveys an understood separation of soldiers from policy in the minds of the American public and helps to express our gratitude toward those who serve - even in wars of which we disapprove.;Such esteem for the military is a recent phenomenon. Throughout American history, even the founding, there has been distrust of the military. Between a liberal society and its values of freedom and individuality and the military's values of discipline and obedience, a certain antagonistic separation, or what civil-military relations theorists call the civil-military gap, is to be expected.;The progression of civilian society's attitude toward the military is examined using Carl May's and Tracy Finch's Normalization Process Theory. This theory proposes that practices become routinely embedded in social contexts as the result of people working, individually and collectively, to implement them.;Initially, the work of Vietnam veterans to rectify their status against the backlash of the Vietnam War led to the first conception of Support the Troops. Next, the formal Veterans Movement solidified their rights and entitlements, and along with the ideal patriotism promoted by President Reagan, Support the Troops took on political overtones during the Cold War. Then, with victory in the first Gulf War, Support the Troops became the proven baseline for civic responsibility while the nation goes to war.;During the Global War on Terror, renewed concerns for the civil-military gap have been prompted by the minimal impact of the decade's two simultaneous, international wars on civilian life while unprecedented burdens have been placed on the military. Evaluations of the gap, including direct and indirect appraisal on civilian attitudes toward the military, is the last stage in the normalization process.;Appraisal of the gap reveals that Support the Troops functions to perpetuate the divide between civilian and military societies. It sustains a military caste in American society and absolves civilians of active civic responsibility in the defense and security of the nation. It was born out of guilt over the Vietnam experience, but has actually made it easier to send troops into harm's way. |
