Acquire Today Our Army: Soldiers, Politics, And American Civil-Military Relations Articulated By Jason K. Dempsey Disseminated As EReader Version

book that I wish I read earlier in my career, Should be required reading for all officers, and Ill be assigning a chapter to my next class, Desperately needs an update based on recent events, and an expansion to branches other than the Army, Conventional wisdom holds that the American military is overwhelmingly conservative and Republican, and extremely political, Our Army paints a more complex picture, demonstrating that while army officers are likely to be more conservative, rankandfile soldiers hold political views that mirror those of the American public as a whole, and army personnel are less partisan and politically engaged than most civilians.




Assumptions about political attitudes in the U, S. Army are based largely on studies focusing on the senior ranks, yet these senior officers comprise only aboutpercent of America's fighting force, Jason Dempsey provides the first randomsample survey that also covers the social and political attitudes held by enlisted men and women in the army.
Uniting these findings with those from another unique survey he conducted among cadets at the United States Military Academy on the eve of thepresidential election, Dempsey offers the most detailed look yet at how service members of all ranks approach politics.
He shows that many West Point cadets view political conservatism as part of being an officer, raising important questions about how the army indoctrinates officers politically.
But Dempsey reveals that the rankandfile army is not nearly as homogeneous as we thinkor as politically activeand that political attitudes across the ranks are

undergoing a substantial shift.



Our Army adds needed nuance to our understanding of a profession that seems increasingly distant from the average American.
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