Several former defense secretaries and chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sounded the alarm on the breakdown of civil-military relations in an open letter published Tuesday.
Dempsey and other former Pentagon officials described “an exceptionally challenging civil-military environment,” citing geopolitical, social and political reasons for eroding trust in their open letter published on the War on the Rocks blog. “Many of the factors that shape civil-military relations have undergone extreme strain in recent years,” the officials stated.
Signatories included former Defense Secretaries Mark Esper, Robert Gates, and James Mattis. Among the former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who signed were retired Admirals Michael Mullen and General Martin Dempsey.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 03: Former Defense Secretary General James Mattis speaks with Richard Haass at The Council on Foreign Relations on September 03, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Officials noted the military’s need to “come to terms with” the recent conclusion of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that failed to “satisfactorily” achieve goals, while simultaneously preparing for potential conflict with near peer threats. The pandemic and economic challenges also placed “enormous strain” on individuals and families, according to the letter. (RELATED: ‘It’s A Simple Question’: Tom Cotton Confronts Top Generals Over Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal)
The letter’s authors did not specifically name a party or leader but alluded to an “extremely adverse environment” in which military officials now operate following “the first election in over a century when the peaceful transfer of political power was disrupted and in doubt.” Of the letter’s 13 signatories, two were defense secretaries removed from position by former President Donald Trump, The Washington Post noted.
The signatories laid out a series of traditional principles and best practices to restore the civil-military trust, according to the letter. The letter argued civilian control of the military is paramount to the function of American democracy and is exercised through all three branches of government. The military and civilians alike are also obligated to appropriately advise the president in the creation and execution of “wise and ethical directives,” assuming such directives are deemed legal, according to the former military leaders.
Elected and appointed leaders “have the right to be wrong,” the letter continued. “They have the right to insist on a policy or direction that proves, in hindsight, to have been a mistake. This right obtains even if other voices warn in advance that the proposed action is a mistake,” the former officials wrote.
The letter, and its characterization of the relationship between military and civil leaders, comes as top generals in 2021 advised President Biden against a hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Politico reported. Thirteen service members were killed and another 18 wounded during evacuation efforts at the Kabul airport in 2021.
Members of Taliban wait to enter the former US military base to celebrate the first anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan, in Bagram on August 31, 2022. (Photo by AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The idea for the letter originated from a discussion between former Army General Martin Dempsey and civil military affairs scholar Peter Feaver, whom Pentagon leaders occasionally consult, in spring 2022, The Washington Post noted.
“There was a desire to make sure that this document was not partisan and did not sound like a partisan critique of any single individual,” Feaver said of the letter, according to the outlet. Rhetoric and actions by Trump caused concern among some Pentagon officials, prompting the idea for a letter outlining the best practices for military-civil affairs, the scholar reportedly added.
The letter was published after what many say was a divisive speech delivered Sept. 1 by President Biden. Four uniformed Marines flanked the President as he called Trump and his supporters “extremists,” saying they threaten “the very foundations of our republic.”
The White House sought to defend the president’s inclusion of military personnel in his controversial speech, arguing the move was a means of showing the “deep and abiding respect the President has for these services — service members,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a briefing Sept. 2.