![]() ![]() Civilian control is enhanced by effective civil-military relations. #DOLLAR LETTER CHAIN PROFESSIONAL#In practice, the power to declare a policy/order/action illegal or unconstitutional is decisive because the military is obligated (by law and by professional ethics) to refuse to carry out an illegal or unconstitutional policy/order/action.ħ. In certain cases or controversies, civilian control is exercised within the judicial branch through judicial review of policies, orders, and actions involving the military. Members of Congress empower personal and committee staff to shape the development of policies for decision by the committees and Congress as a whole and thereby play an important role in civilian oversight of policy.Ħ. ![]() Congress conducts oversight of military activity and can compel testimony from military or civilian officials, subject to narrow exceptions such as executive privilege. The Senate is also charged with advising and consenting to certain senior-level civilian political appointees. The Senate advises and consents on the promotion of officers to the pay grade of O-4 and above. Congress determines the authorization and appropriation of funds without which military activity is impossible. Civilian control is exercised within the legislative branch through the extensive powers enumerated in Article I of the Constitution, beginning with the power to declare war, to raise and support armies, and to provide and maintain a navy. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not in the formal chain of command, but best practice has the chairman in the chain of communication for orders and policy development.ĥ. Civilian control is also exercised within the executive branch for policy development and implementation by the interagency process, which empowers civilian political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president and career officials in the civil service to shape the development of plans and options, with the advice of the military, for decision by the president. Civilian control is exercised within the executive branch for operational orders by the chain of command, which runs from the president to the civilian secretary of defense to the combatant commanders. Ultimately, civilian control is wielded by the will of the American people as expressed through elections.Ĥ. Constitution, civilian control of the military is shared across all three branches of government. All civilians, whether they swear an oath or not, are likewise obligated to support and defend the Constitution as their highest duty.ģ. Military officers swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not an oath of fealty to an individual or to an office. Civilian control operates within a constitutional framework under the rule of law. The democratic project is not threatened by the existence of a powerful standing military so long as civilian and military leaders - and the rank-and-file they lead - embrace and implement effective civilian control.Ģ. Civilian control of the military is part of the bedrock foundation of American democracy. In such an environment, it is helpful to review the core principles and best practices by which civilian and military professionals have conducted healthy American civil-military relations in the past - and can continue to do so, if vigilant and mindful.ġ. Looking ahead, all of these factors could well get worse before they get better. Politically, military professionals confront an extremely adverse environment characterized by the divisiveness of affective polarization that culminated in the first election in over a century when the peaceful transfer of political power was disrupted and in doubt. Socially, the pandemic and the economic dislocations have disrupted societal patterns and put enormous strain on individuals and families. military must simultaneously come to terms with wars that ended without all the goals satisfactorily accomplished while preparing for more daunting competition with near-peer rivals. ![]() Geopolitically, the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the ramping up of great power conflict mean the U.S. Many of the factors that shape civil-military relations have undergone extreme strain in recent years. We are in an exceptionally challenging civil-military environment. ![]()
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