Military Culture

This paper examines social change in American military culture. Briefly, the analysis explores the current battle between the military's traditional "combat, masculine-warrior" (or CMW) paradigm of exclusion and the contradictory "evolving" model of culture characterized by inclusion and heterogeneity. Two recent cases illustrate this divergence between paradigm and model: women in combat and homosexuals in the military. The analysis next examines the long-term war of military culture, suggesting that the military is undergoing a cultural paradigm shift--moving away from its traditional CMW paradigm of exclusion toward an inclusionary view of soldiering. Assuming the military seeks a paradigm shift, as evidenced by the evolving model of culture, the paper suggests some initial strategies for implementing a paradigm shift. Specifically, paradigm pioneers must foster a culture of inclusion and egalitarianism. Senior military leaders are the catalysts of a paradigm shift--they are the true pioneers who can institutionalize a cultural paradigm embodied by an "inclusive whole" rather than a paradigm personified by an "exclusive few."