Infantry graduation speech by Army LTC Randolph White

Blackfive link to text and video of passionate Infantry graduation speech by Army LTC Randolph White.



It's really good stuff, and I agree with much of what he has to say. The area of concern, however, is his rejection of the civil (specifically, corporate and academia) side of the civil-military gap. My activist efforts at Columbia have all been geared ultimately to shrinking the civil-military gap and have been focused on campus, the civil academic side. I can't work the military side and it's harmful when folks from that side widen the gap. It's hard enough as is to occupy space within the gap to try to win hearts and minds on the civil side. Brusque rejectionist rhetoric from military people like LTC White - however justified - can destroy the tenuous linkages we've made across institutions within the gap, and remove the onus from civilians to reconsider already-unconventional civil-military arguments.

Eric