policy - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
society.
Then, with the war in Vietnam, the relationship between the military
and the society at large underwent yet another significant transformation.
That change, like the others described in this chapter, is part of
the "Vietnam experience" which is to this day influencing American attitudes
and policies.
1. The Traditional Relationship
Throughout
the early centuries of white settlement in North
America, the geostrategic position of North America ensured that the
defense needs of the residents were irregular. Neighboring nations were
weak and the Americans relatively safe from Great Power intervention on
account of their natural barriers, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
"Threats to security came
primarily from the Indians rather than from
regular, modern armies, although there were occasional clashes with French
and Spanish forces in the new world.
The Colonists evolved a system of self-defense based on an armed
civilian population and local militias which were suited to countering the
Indian threat but neither designed nor intended to fight a conventional
army.45/ Furthermore, the English settlers of North America brought with
them an ingrained suspicion of large standing armies, which stemmed both
from the economic burden of maintaining such armies and from the fear that
standing armies could be used against domestic opposition as well as
against foreign enemies.46/ When the War of Independence broke out, that
fear was confirmed, and the Colonists found themselves fighting British
regulars with ill-trained militia and short-term citizen soldiers.
Thus,
after the war was brought to a successful conclusion, the young nation was
left with reinforced distrust of professional armies and confidence in its
ability to meet its defense needs with a small army
capable of rapid
expansion through short-term, citizen enlistments in times of crisis.
Throughout the 19th Century the United States continued to enjoy
relative security founded in its gecgraphicposition and the weakness of
its neighbors.
The need for a powerful ar,.; was further reduced by American
foreign policy which stressed minimizing foreign entanglements.47/
attention of the nation focused upon continental expansion and economic
The
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