Conclusion

There is a season for everything... A time for war, a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 8

Military legitimacy reflects what is expected of the military. Its requirements provide the moral authority for the military to act as an instrument of national power.

The uncertain and violent peace following the end of the Cold War requires military capabilities that are as constructive during peacetime as they are destructive during wartime. They are the capabilities needed for operations other than war, and their legitimacy is inextricably bound with public perceptions of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Capabilities for operations other than war depend upon unique leadership and extensive civil-military relations to achieve military legitimacy; and painful lessons have taught that traditional combat capabilities are unsuited for these non-combat operations. The diplomat warrior and civil affairs offer new models of leadership and civil-military relations needed for the new millennium. They complement and do not degrade warfighting capabilities, providing more effective utilization of existing combat support and service support forces.

Creating the military capabilities and leadership needed for operations other than war will require changes in the world's largest bureaucracy, which is noted for its resistance to change. For many traditionalists in the Pentagon any joint venture with civilian agencies is a dangerous diversion for professional warriors. But if the Army is to be all that it can (and must) be in the new millennium, its leaders must be equally at home in both civilian and military environments.

The needs of the new strategic environment call for a new generation of diplomat warriors whose concept of professionalism is grounded in military legitimacy. In a seamless Total Force civilian soldiers must be accepted as full partners - not just reservists - serving with their fulltime counterparts as an extension of both the US military and diplomatic corps.