Custom «Military Profession and Civil Military Relation» Essay Paper Sample

When one mentions the word military, the first expression one gets is about the military officer.The civil military relation is a topic that will bring up another topic or argument at any place. Different people have different opinions or interests towards the topic depending on what interests or relationship a person has with either of the parties involved. This gap has continued to grow narrower over the years. The military profession is slowly but steadily finding its way into the civil world.

Reasons and Analysis

In the past one would think that the military and the civilians were two different types of people from 'two different worlds'. In the  past, an army man was seen as 'an enemy' by some people who seemed to be angry at some kind of  unseen angry being and so they were always ready to fight and their presence instilled a lot of fear to this group of people. Other people saw them as role models as they saw their determined and willing spirits, great bodies (the build up muscles), just to mention a few qualities here and there. Some other people saw the same army man as an enemy especially if a loved one had fallen in their hands.

Today, things are changing as people get more and more enlightened. The civilians understand that military profession is just like any other profession. When they are forced to make some decisions that are between saving their loved ones and saving their whole country it's simply professional and nothing personal. The military men/women are known to take orders from their immediate boss and the commander in chief. When given any orders, they should not ask any questions until the duty they are supposed to perform is completed (Sarkesian & Connor, 2006).

Other things that have contributed to the narrowing of the gap between the civil and the military profession, is the reduction of war activity in the world. The presence of World War one and two really brought a high recruitment level of army men in most countries. When one was recruited that they are going to be in the army, they knew that it was nothing less of going to war. Nowadays, one can be recruited to enter the army but still be in the comfort of their country and not necessarily get involved in war activity. This has created a lot of time for the military men to go and socialize with the other civilians more frequ8ently, they get to be with their family members and loved ones more often, etc.

The civilians are now more educated and see the military man as a person working than another being from another planet. This is the same way the people have been able to accept that one can fully earn a living as a musician, sportsman, poet, etc without necessarily having to go and get an office job (Nielsen & Snider, 2009).

Although this is a positive move, there are some people who are taking this change to another level that is not good for the military profession. Due to political interests, retired high ranking men have been seen endorsing politicians and even supporting certain political parties. Once an army officer, always an army officer. Retired General Wesley Clark was seen to endorse Senator Hillary Clinton in the 2008 bid. In 2000, Claudia Kennedy, was also seen to endorse politician Eric Massa. These are just but a few of the retired army officials who have been seen or known to make a step of involving themselves in politics. Although this may be seen as an individual's decision, it is not good for the military profession for it may be interpreted wrongly. Some people may see as if the military is supporting that political class.It may end up raising a lot of eye brows or suspicions (Brooks, 2008).

The military civilian relationship has always been very sensitive. Let us not forget that these same military men were once civilians for no one are born a military man/woman. The training and conditions they go through are what shape them to be who and how they are.

Most of the army men and women were gotten from the lower socio economic class. Some went into the army for the sake of the love of their country; others went due to poverty for they wanted to raise their living standards while others just got into the military for their peers were going. Nowadays, the men and women from all classes are entering the military. The training is the same but how the military men are treated cannot be compared to how they were treated many years back (Larson, 1971).

Conclusion/ Recommendation

The gap between the military profession and the civil relation has decreased. There is not as much bitterness like the way it was in the past. The systems have been adjusted so that there is more time of interactions between the military men and their loved ones. This can be achieved if  the authority can make arrangements of sending the military away for short periods of time more than the long periods that are sometimes not realistic.

There should also be continued civil education so that they understand what the military men are forced to do is entirely out of their professional duties and nothing personal. As it is to everyone's and the whole country's interest, the civilians and the military men should live in harmony without any compromise.