Stewardship and the Retired Senior Leader: Toward a New Professional Ethic
Abstract
The United States military is a profession in the truest sense of the term, particularly in the case of career officers, and is principally comprised of two cohorts in the active force and the retired career military. Because retired military leaders retain their association with the active military and the military profession more generally, they are under an obligation to maintain the same distinctive nonpartisan ethic as the active force with regard to politics, policy, and the public domain in matters directly affecting U.S. military and national security policy. Public criticism of national security policy by retired senior leaders risks unintended consequences detrimental to the military profession, including compromised trust between the military and civilian communities, denigration of the profession's standing with civilian leaders, and the potential for division within the profession itself. It is time for recognition of retired senior leaders as fully vested members of the military profession, who are therefore subject to the same professional ethic of nonpartisanship in matters of national security and the conduct of current military operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA589449
Entities
People
- George R. Smawley
Organizations
- United States Army War College