Moreover, the 1.4 million members of the military act as one organism. So, too, with the medical profession. If the American people were indeed this vulnerable to the whims of the medical profession, we would no doubt demand that medical personnel be as trustworthy as possible. Well, American society is this vulnerable to the military profession. When it comes time for the military to do its job, society could suffer greatly if the military is not effective.
Society has no opportunity for a second opinion.
Given these factors, we should not be surprised that civilian society attempts to reduce its vulnerability to the military s monopoly by demanding that certain moral ideals become the military s standards of moral behavior. There is not a gap in values as moral ideals between the military and civilian society. There is a gap in values as standards of conduct between the military and civilian society. Shared ideals will preserve the proper civil-military relationship. Further, I claim that the gap in norms is justified by the demands of the profession.