When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned hundreds of senior military leaders to Quantico, Virginia, last fall, what awaited them was not a policy briefing but a political spectacle. Hegseth and President Donald Trump delivered what amounted to rally-style speeches to the assembled officers, "Hvylya" reports, citing The Atlantic.
The military leaders showed up - they had been directed to by their civilian superiors. But, as defense scholar Kori Schake described, "they all sat in stoic silence during the political program." Not a cheer, not a clap, not a nod. The silence was the message.
Schake, a contributing writer at The Atlantic and director of foreign- and defense-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, argued that this kind of restraint reflects deep-seated professionalism. Yet she warned the armed forces "will not long remain immune to our febrile politics if we keep dragging them into it."
The Quantico episode is part of a broader pattern. Trump has given campaign speeches to military audiences and "encouraged their participation in partisan activities," according to Schake. President Joe Biden had uniformed Marines standing behind him during a 2022 speech about democracy. Both parties have showcased veterans at conventions and sought their endorsements.
Research cited in the article suggests veteran endorsements have a "small-to-negligible effect" on voters but may actually damage public attitudes toward the military as an institution. The ability of the armed forces to resist politicization, Schake concluded, "rests almost wholly on the professionalism of the force itself."
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