First Time Voter

I am 47 years old and voted for the first time during Tuesday’s election. Before preparing a sermon on failure to perform my civic duty, please allow me to explain why it took nearly 30 years to vote. Quick spoiler alert, this is not a political blog!

I turned 18 in 1991 and the first national election I could have participated in was held on November 3, 1992. I signed an enlistment contract with the Army on the 28^th of August 1992 which promised, in consideration for the ROTC scholarship money and the great training I would receive while in college, I would serve for four years active duty after graduation.

The early 90s were an interesting time to begin an involvement with the military. Both the military and the nation’s political scene were grappling with the so called “peace dividend” from the recent fall of the communist Soviet Union. In the early 90s our military force structures and training manuals were still catching up; they were of cold war era design, focused on defeating the Soviet threat.

Additionally, in the early 90s almost all of the ROTC cadre at my university were recently returned Operation Desert Storm veterans. Through their decisive victory in Iraq, these heroes proved the American military overcame the numerous challenges it faced post-Vietnam. I really looked up to these leaders!

Some of these great Soldiers were receiving “pink slips” from the Army they worked so hard to rebuild. The early 90’s saw huge personnel drawdowns from the nearly 1,000,000 strong active force during the cold war era. These Soldiers who won an incredible victory in Iraq, were suddenly caught up in a military riff and looking for new careers.

Early on, I learned from these great mentors and leaders about the necessity of an apolitical military. My ROTC cadre set a good example; even though the Army was undergoing massive change and some of them were being involuntarily discharged, I never heard any open commentary about politics or the upcoming election.

Being apolitical in uniform certainly didn’t mean I couldn’t have voted in the 1992 election (or the six other elections following that one). However, I made a commitment at this early stage in my career that as long as I served in the Army, I would remain completely apolitical, which for me included not voting.

At the personal level my rationale was that if I was deployed to fight or worse yet, wounded during fighting, I wanted to mitigate any bitterness about politics.  At a loftier level, I just wanted my time in the military to be focused on leading Soldiers as best I could, without any potential influences from political biases.

Perhaps in 1992, my 19 year old self could have thought out more completely a way to remain apolitical yet balance my civic and military duty. But after commissioning in 1995 and throughout my 24 years of active duty service, I validated time and again why remaining apolitical to include not voting was the absolute best decision for me.

My first big test came in early 2003 as my unit prepared to deploy for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I commanded a Bradley fighting vehicle Air Defense Artillery battery used in a ground security role around the Baghdad International Airport. You better believe Soldiers will ask of their leaders, at almost every opportunity, “Why are we here”? I’d be disappointed if they didn’t.

Because I remained apolitical, I was able to pop off a response in line with our higher units strategic messaging without letting personal bias creep in. I am not sure if my response helped ease Soldiers apprehension as we embarked on combat operations, but I know for a fact that if I had been politically charged one way or the other in my response, my comments would only hurt them.

The “why are we here” scenario occurred numerous times over my career during combat and operational deployments. I am so very thankful that I stayed removed from the political debate about our nation’s use of the military instrument of power and just focused on leading as best I could.

A primary purpose of leaders in the military is to do everything possible to safely bring home the service members in our charge. For me, staying apolitical was an important part of this leadership task. But I digress, more on leadership in upcoming blogs!

I didn’t fully realize what it means to be apolitical in the military until very late in my career. As a senior officer I was selected to attend the National War College (NWC) to complete professional military education requirements. One of the electives I chose, mostly because the topic interests me, was a course entitled “The Soldier and the State”.

The text for this course was The Soldier and The State, The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations by Samuel P. Huntington.  First written in 1957, this book is regarded by many as the definitive work on civil-military relations and if you are interested in the topic, I would definitely recommend a read.

During this course and within the pages of Huntington’s text, I learned about the revolutionary change in military affairs occurring post WWII in the United States and how the 1950s cold war era really shaped the relationship between our military and populace ever since. Most of all, I was pleased to learn, I wasn’t doing apolitical military service completely wrong. My thoughts on civil-military relations were in line with respected scholarly works and as I learned from my classmates at NWC, shared by others in uniform.

There are many service members who maintain an interest in politics (within military regulations) and I am confident the majority of active duty service members are able to balance their civic duty to vote with their military duties. For me, it was just the right personal choice to avoid all aspects of politics while serving.

Which is why, as I approached my military retirement date in 2019, I was pretty excited about finally taking an active interest in politics and most importantly, performing my civic duty to vote. I carried that excitement to the polls yesterday as I performed the act of casting a vote for the first time in my adult life. Even though it took about 2 hours, it was time well spent and a proud moment.

I made the correct personal decision by not voting and remaining completely apolitical during my 24 years of military service. Now I look forward to being an involved citizen and civilian in our nation’s future. I took my first step yesterday. Most importantly, I want my children to understand their civic duty as Americans. I was very happy to set an example for them.