What is the connection between democracy and veterans and military families?
Upon entering their military service, veterans swore an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic – which they have done across the globe. Today, when the authoritarian threat is found much closer to home, veterans, military families, and other groups that support members of the armed forces remain uniquely positioned to stem democratic backsliding. Military families are greatly shaped by their loved ones’ service and represent the commitment to freedom and democracy here at home. Organizations that serve the veteran and military family communities have the platform, credibility, and reach to organize their members as powerful voices for and defenders of democracy.
Authoritarians are also aware of the credibility of veterans and military families in their communities. They seek to leverage Americans’ respect for veterans and current servicemen and women by using them as political pawns and targeting them and their families with anti-democratic misinformation and disinformation. More troublingly, White supremacist and other anti-government violent extremist groups explicitly seek out veterans for recruitment, hoping to use their discipline, skills, and credibility while taking advantage of their struggle to find purpose and community after leaving the military.
Accordingly, getting directly involved in the struggle for democracy can be a powerful avenue for veterans and military families to prevent recruitment into violent extremist groups and help assuage the difficulties of the transition to civilian life. Many American veterans who have gotten involved in pro-democracy struggles see their activism both as a direct continuation of the commitments they made through their oath of allegiance, and as a core community through which they are able to find collective purpose in civilian life.
What can veterans and military families do to meet authoritarian threats?
Veterans, military families, and the organizations who serve them have a long history on the forefronts of activism to advance American democracy. Today, they can join forces with the larger pro-democracy ecosystem by:
- Leveraging the high levels of respect that most Americans have for service members as powerful persuaders for democracy and democratic institutions.
- In conjunction with other get-out-the-vote efforts, statements by retired military flag and general officers demanding that election officials “Count Every Hero” served as a powerful, nonpartisan counterweight to messages that attempted to preemptively undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
- Former top military commanders, including Gen. James Mattis, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, and Gen. Mark Milley (among others) have modeled how both veterans and current servicemen and women can uphold their oath and code of ethics by standing against strongman tactics.
- Drawing on their connections and shared experience with active-duty military, police, and other security forces to call on people in these institutions to stand up for democracy.
- During the “Orange Revolution” in Ukraine, former air force chief General Volodymyr Antonets built an extensive network of contacts among mid-ranking Ukrainian officers that helped ensure that the Ukrainian military was not used to violently suppress peaceful pro-democracy protesters.
- Catalyzing the discipline, training, skills, and high levels of community cohesion developed during their military service as powerful mobilizers for democracy.
- Black WWII and Korean War veterans like Medgar Evers and Hosea Williams drew on the skills and confidence they gained during their military service to lead key civil rights organizations, often leading the way through the riskiest forms of activism.
- Building bridges across partisan and identity-based divides.
- Veterans and military families span the political spectrum, making non-partisan veterans groups a particularly important forum for combatting toxic polarization, fostering community across divides, and countering the misinformation and disinformation that authoritarian actors use to undermine American democracy.
Other tactics can be found on Gene Sharp’s list of 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action here.
Additional Resources:
Go more in depth into specific case studies detailing the importance of veterans, security forces, and military families as a force for democracy:
- Ukrainian Veterans Save Lives Through Quiet Diplomacy
- US Military Leaders Affirm Their Commitment to Democracy
- A “Wall of Vets” Protects Free Expression in Portland
- Venezuelan Military Officers Refuse Honors from a Dictator
- Veterans Defend Standing Rock Protesters
- Philippines Armed Forces Resist a Dictatorship
- The Chilean Security Sector Defects from the Pinochet Dictatorship
- The Egyptian Military Defects During the Arab Spring
Check out this tracker on efforts to politicize the military and disrupt our military readiness.
Read this article by Dan Vallone asking Could veterans put us on a path toward bringing respect and civility back to politics?
Look into the campaign against using domestic military bases as immigration deportation centers.
*This article was written by former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney and updated by Research Assistant Sivahn Sapirstein.
