The war on military culture

In December 2017, while fielding questions at the Reagan National Library in California, national security adviser H.R. McMaster cautioned that the prospect of war with North Korea is increasing daily. His comments warrant reflection.

Political bickering aside, if diplomacy fails, our troops will not have the luxury of pointing fingers. They will have to fight and win in an environment characterized by Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley as even more grueling than battlefields of the past. Nevertheless, in certain circles there is a growing disquiet over the inherently aggressive culture of our Armed Forces.

Vox News columnist Alex Ward published a Memorial Day 2017 article titled, “The Marine Corps has a Toxic Masculinity Problem,” in which he claims the soul of the Marine Corps is in jeopardy because of a hyper-masculine environment he believes is linked to misconduct.

If Ward’s opinion was a fringe one, his article would not be so concerning – but it isn’t. Many share Ward’s ironic anxiety about the supposed pitfalls of a warlike military culture.

At the request of the U.S. Army Research Institute, the RAND Corporation recently concluded a 2017 study dedicated to fixing “organizational culture and climate” issues within the military. Omitting historical data related to combat effectiveness, including the last 16 years of remarkable tactical victories, the study cited negative workplace behavior as a factor necessitating such institutional change. The term “hypermasculine” made its way into the study.