Come January 20, civil-military relations in this country will be thrust into turbulent and uncharted waters, driven by a mercurial, domineering commander in chief unlike any other in American history. His oft-voiced disdain for the military and those in uniform, at the same time that he treats the military as his personal property, portends a prolonged period of ethical upheaval for a military institution whose prevailing ethos has, with few exceptions, always been one of disciplined restraint in its dealings with civilian authorities.
The price of a military sworn to political neutrality, public silence and dutiful obedience is the military’s reciprocal expectation that its civilian overseers will honor the sanctity of the relationship by conducting themselves professionally and tempering their own demands for politicization. Looking ahead to the next four years, all bets are off in the face of a newly empowered commander in chief who uniformly ignores, circumvents and undermines established norms of protocol and accountability for his own benefit.
