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Respect in the Military Essay

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Respect in the Military It has been said that military standards are higher than the country demands of its president. And that is true. President Clinton lied under oath. Perhaps that is not perjury, but an army officer could not do that. Nor could army personnel have extramarital affairs. Kelly Flynn found that out when she lost her position in the Air Force and years of pilot training went down the drain. But for the Commander in Chief, it is another story. While it is true that the Commander in Chief is able to get away with misbehavior, military personnel have been warned not to criticize him. In fact, the various branches have been reminding troops that they can be prosecuted for publicly condemning the Commander in …show more content…

Thus, just because Clinton admitted to doing the misdeeds, he cannot be criticized by military members. In other words, one cannot accurately talk about President Clinton without getting into serious trouble. The military may seem unnecessarily restrictive or antiquated but there is a reason for the mandate. Officers must respect their superiors. It is simple as that. The reasoning behind that is that routines and orders must be obeyed. After all, soldiers are being trained and must be ready to go into combat at any time. The reason that the personnel cannot criticize their leader should be obvious. If a war or conflict were to break out, it would significantly affect performance as well as the world's perception about the United States. Thus, no matter how one feels, there must be respect given to every single officer all the way up the line to the commander in chief. The fact that Clinton himself has not been in compliance is immaterial. While he is the Commander in Chief he is still considered to be a civilian. While it is important to give the president respect, respect to Military Superior Commanding Officers and Non Commission Officers is perhaps even more pertinent. If theoretically, when one is in the trenches with superiors, they must be ready to accept orders willingly. The only way to accomplish this is with respect and military courtesy. Thus, the fundamental purpose of having and enforcing a chain of command with

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