A different breed

A DIFFERENT BREED: The dominant culture in the U.S. military, argues Robert D. Kaplan is lower middle class, especially in the ranks of the noncommissioned officers (NCOs). With the exception of enlistees from the urban poor, military personnel come mainly from the South and the Bible Belt of the Midwest and the, Great Plains.

The military culture is a world of beer and cigarettes and chewing tobacco and profanity. These are people who hunt, drive pickups and have a simple yet demonstrative faith in God. They tend to be nationalistic, not cosmopolitan, and their task--to defend the homeland and use lethal force if necessary--is bolstered by an evangelicalism tinged with an Old Testament orientation that is both martial and compassionate. These people understand President Bush, who speaks plainly and without subtlety and says openly that it is OK to kill. This is a world that American elites, including the media, don't understand. Even the Pentagon and the military academies are at odds with this military culture (Atlantic Monthly, November).

COPYRIGHT 2004 The Christian Century Foundation
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