James Madison, The Father of the Constitution, voiced his concern as well: A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. With the benefit of hindsight, it would appear that subsequent U.S. administrations were not beyond entering into such pacts, as the 2020 deal between the United States and the Taliban demonstrates. In Madisons statement to the Convention, it referred not to the literal notion of armies marching the citizenry through the streets in shackles but to a kind of metaphorical slavery. By 2007, the Americans saw themselves confronting an insurgency. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people. The National Archives. The soldier has convinced himself that carrying out the presidents orders is equivalent to supporting and defending the Constitution. Please, enable JavaScript and reload the page to enjoy our modern features. The exercise took place at the British Army Training Unit Suffield, a sprawling base in the south of Alberta in Canada, where tank crews assemble to hone their technical proficiency in armored warfare. The immense costs necessary to raise and maintain a standing army (moneys required for pay, uniforms, rations, weapons, pensions, and so forth) would burden the populace with an immense and crippling tax burden that would require the government to confiscate more and more of the citizenrys wealth in order to meet those massive expenses. The severity of discipline necessary to be observed reduces them to a degree of slavery; the unconditional submission to the commands of their superiors, to which they are bound, renders them the fit instruments of tyranny and oppression. Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. Last accessed 6 May, 2011. Why can't the Army teach Infantry NCOs to actually lead instead of just torturing us? A large standing army is repugnant to republican institutions and a menace to the liberty of our own people. What was life like in the Roman army? - BBC Bitesize The Use and Abuse of Military Force - Brookings They should increase the opportunities for officers to attend civilian graduate school, which enable students to develop deeper critical thinking skills and to learn from a diverse set of faculty and classmates in ways than can never occur in a purely military degree program. The soldier obeys orders. Document 23. This involved decentralized leadership based upon trust in subordinates and greater autonomy of junior leaders in garrison as well as combat. The initiative of junior leaders is also being threatened by technology that increasingly enables senior leaders to micromanage even small unit actions, from peacetime gunnery qualifications to combat assaults on enemy compounds. but rather that they should not be 'kept up.' 'Kept up' is a term used to describe an army that is standing in time of peace. The inability to manage risk prudently and underwrite smart risk-taking by subordinate leaders deeply corrodes the trust that enables mission command the Armys warfighting philosophy built around decentralized command and control. Lt. General David W. Barno, USA (Ret.) The good news is, you are only 38 years old and can go and work at another job until you are really old. 10. As militia they may be subjected to fines to any amount, levied in a military manner; they may be subjected to corporal punishments of the most disgraceful and humiliating kind; and to death itself, by the sentence of a court martial. [1] This anti-standing army sentiment motivated colonial opposition to post-French and Indian War British policies, intensified after the Boston Massacre, influenced the writings of most founding fathers, and remained politically relevant well after the Revolutionary War ended. In 1783, Continental Army officers encamped at Newburgh circulated documents that leveled a vague threat against Congress if the government continued its refusal to pay the soldiers. In most cases, they probably also desire to see the scope of their power expanded and their pay increased. Why Oppose Standing Armies? Why danger is exciting - but only to some people - The Conversation Violence against the troops escalated and reached a strategic tipping point in 2007. Akams detailed analysis goes some way to proving the old adage that regular armies may have the watches, but irregular adversaries have all the time in the world. This brings out another understanding that the humans are not evolved species because they have a totally different nature from any of the species which are suppose. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Now, consider the following statement by former U.S. soldier Kayla Williams in an op-ed in last Fridays Guardian: A decade ago, I took part of the initial invasion of Iraq. I didnt support the war. Thats the type of aggression I want from my commanders, Brig. If we annex the Philippines, we shall have to conquer the Filipinos by force of arms, and thereby deny to them what we claim to ourselves the right to self-government. Some of the ritualism entails endless boozing, a crucial lubricant that keeps the system running, Akam notes, involving endless rounds of drinking games. He paints an unflattering picture of a sub-culture where officers drink cold champagne and, presumably, soldiers only drink warm beer. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Thats the national debate that is needed most of all. The Anti-Federalists Were Not Alone It is not just the Anti-Federalists who were opposed to standing armies. There was the Shah of Iran, a brutal dictator who was reinstalled into power by the CIA, and whose national intelligence/police force was trained by the CIA in the art of torture. The actual effects are to lower the costs of war to those who would have it and to create a special-interest group of bureaucrats and military personnel who have a vested interest in advancing the war machine. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) struggles under the legacy of an obsolete command system, rampant corruption, and training of debatable realism, among other issues. There are the decades of military and financial aid provided the brutal military dictatorship in Egypt under military strongman Hosni Mubarak, whose troops and intelligence forces worked closely with both the Pentagon and the CIA. I am sure there are more . While its ideal purpose is to create peace, we do not live in a world of ideals. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. According to Akam, Shaw left that meeting with the impression that British officials were done with the conflict and that the task in front of him was to get Britain out of Iraq. This foreign policy directive would have serious consequences for the British Armys position in Basra and, perhaps more importantly, for its reputation with its American partners. Our resources would have been exhausted on dangers which have never happened, instead of being reserved for what is really to take place. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people.". The whole episode would remain hidden from public view until two enterprising defense correspondents, Deborah Haynes and Michael Evans, at The Times newspaper revealed extensive details a few months later.