Members of the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment commemorate the soldiers who scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc during Operation Overlord in Normandy, France, June 5, 2019.  (Markus Rauchenberger/U.S. Army)

This week, Americans paid tribute to its veterans whose sacrifice and service throughout U.S. history have kept our country safe and free. Yet without an appreciation and understanding of war and the “warrior ethos” by military and civilian leaders, national security is at risk, writes Hudson Japan Chair Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster in National Review. Following the Biden administration’s surrender to the Taliban in Afghanistan, America's warrior ethos may be compromised as veterans ask themselves whether their sacrifice is valued by the leaders under whom they serve.  

See key takeaways below, and don't miss McMaster's Veteran's Day op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.

Key Quotes

1. Sound Military Strategy Begins in Washington

Warriors fight mainly for one another, but their willingness to sacrifice and ability to overcome fear are based also on their knowledge that they are fighting to realize a worthy, just intention. Understanding that their efforts are meaningful bolsters resilience under conditions of hardship and persistent danger.

That is why flawed policies and strategies originating in Washington can have a debilitating effect on combat units fighting halfway around the world. A true test to determine the soundness of wartime strategy is to ask platoon leaders whether they can explain to their soldiers how the risks they will take or the sacrifices some may make on an operation will contribute to a worthy outcome.

2. The Afghanistan Withdrawal Will Not 'End Endless Wars'

Vice President Joe Biden called President Barack Obama from Baghdad in December 2011 to thank the president for allowing him to “end this goddamn war.” Based on the conceit that wars end when one side disengages, the complete withdrawal from Iraq, however, set conditions for the rise of ISIS less than three years later. In an astonishing failure to learn from even proximate historical experience, the United States withdrew from Afghanistan under the assumption that surrender to the Taliban would be a step toward “ending endless wars.”

3. The Warrior Ethos Is Founded on Combat Effectiveness

Civilian and military leaders must not allow reified postmodernist theories to erode the sacred trust between warriors or diminish the meritocracy and objective realities that are essential to preserving the warrior ethos as the foundation of combat effectiveness. Warriors should be judged by their integrity, trustworthiness, physical toughness, mental resilience, courage, selflessness, and humaneness.

Quotes may have been edited for clarity and length.

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