The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait

by Morris Janowitz

More than fifty years after its publication, The Professional Soldier remains a path breaking study of civil-military relations. In the Cold War era, Morris Janowitz was among the first to recognize that the military was a fruitful subject for social science to study. Asking who soldiers are, what they do, and what they believe, Janowitz's studies of armed forces and society have guided the work of scholars and policy makers for three generations. The Professional Soldier identifies three issues that confront civil-military relations to this day: how to judge the political consequences of military conduct, how to solve problems of international relations while using less force, and how to strengthen civilian control of the military while preserving professional military autonomy. A vital resource for students and anyone interested in understanding the past, present, and future of the armed services.

Genres: Military Fiction, History, Sociology, Military History, Nonfiction, Politics

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Christopher T Galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Professional Soldier is a must read for those interested in civilian-military relations, civilian control of the military, and/or development of the professional career military officer. Janowitz conducts analysis from 1910 through the Cold War to describe how elite military leadership is influenced, shaped, and developed. Janowitz effectively argues the military elite are shaped by (1) changing organizational authority, (2) shifts in officer recruiting patterns, and (3) military career patterns.

Published in 1960, personal reflection on framework and argument that Janowitz presents seems more accurate and relevant today than - perhaps - when it was published. Within the contemporary context, The Professional Soldier can teach the military much about who their senior leaders are; how they view themselves; what factors shape their development; and how military leaders are viewed in the government, society, and within the Department of Defense.

[Nick Frazier · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd Part of reading the civ-mil classics. Janowitz writes from a sociologist's perspective relying heavily upon survey data and oral interviews to describe how the modern (circa 1960) U.S. military officer operates.

Whereas Huntington argued against the mingling of civilian and military spheres of influence, Janowitz points out that the officer corps is increasingly intertwined with the civilian population due to the rise in ROTC, the mass-growth during World War 2, and the technical nature of new career fields that bring senior technical officers in close proximity with civilian counterparts.

The book points out that the U.S. officer is not a monolithic bloc - rather, because the officers come from an increasingly wider pool of Americans, the personal and professional outlooks tend to be varied. Service rivalries are reflected but advocating for budgets is a long way from taking partisan stances.

Further, Janowitz describes two general schools of thought for the modern military officer - the absolutist and the pragmatist. The absolutist tends to think of war as binary with times of peace or war. Concepts like unconditional surrender or full national mobilization are anticipated in this school of thought. In World War 2, participating in the Far East theater tended to put officers into the absolutist camp.

The pragmatist camp sees the military's role as an extension of the state that provides a menu of violent options (to include the threat of force). Using the term "constabulary force," Janowitz arguest hat a more nuanced approach to military affairs is the future trend. Further, the rise of nuclear weapons and the threat of total annihilation tends to support the use of limited wars and limited political objectives. Officers that served in the western European theater tended to fall into the pragmatist camp.

Overall, it provided an interesting ballast to Huntingon's "Soldier and the State." The military officer corps is a reflection of the American population and a key part of a pluralist debate on the use of national treasure for the defense budget. The book an interesting peek into late-50s military perspectives. I don't think Janowitz be surprised by most of the civ-mil developments of the past 60 years except for the rise of the "Lee Greenwood / TYFYS" phenomenon. 1950s survey/interview data didn't show a particularly high public opinion for military service.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dated but provides a snap shot of a military in transformation. Written in the 60's it gives a history of our military culture and institution, primarily through WWII and then describes the impact of limited war to the force structure and political and military relationship. Introduces the idea of the soldier/constable in an insurgency. You could almost go the other way today were we are transforming from a COIN force to something capable of high intensity conflict. A relevant read to understand the context leading to transformation of the force in the 70's.

[yk]

hashtag read for work

also technically a DNF but like, has anyone actually read this cover to cover

[Quauhtli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though Sam Huntington's The Soldier and The State holds first place in CivMil Relations, Janowitz provides a more empirical approach to the subject. However, unlike Huntington's, Janowitz' writing is more dated, and the theories and ideas he expresses belong to an earlier age of the U.S. Military. Finally, Janowitz' book is more a reflection of the American military, rather than a counter-theory to Huntington's generalist and universal approach to civil-military relations.

[Corbin Routier · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are better military sociology books to read than this. It is considered a classic, but I found it to be very short-sighted by its focus on only the officers of the U.S. military. The greatest contribution of the book is the demonstration of how civilian and military careers are more interrelated/interchangeable from the growth of technology.