It appears that enlisted personnel are not hard wired to support the president, no matter what. In the last 12-months, President Trump fired Defense Secretary James Mattis; ordered a sudden withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria which abandonned the Kurds; granted clemency to three servicemen accused of war crimes, and faced an impeachment investigation over allegedly delaying military aid to Ukraine. The recent airing of interviews with Seal Team members calling for the investigation of Eddie Gallagher shows that not all armed forces personnel are in lock step with extremist philosophies.
"Over time, as the president has been involved with more controversial things connected to the military — whether it's the border wall or the pardons or the way that Secretary Mattis left — that has changed the view of him," retired Marine Col. Dave Lapan told the Military Times.
This helps explain the slide in the president's approval raiting over the past three years. His current approval rating is 42% versus 50% unfavorable. Last year it was 44% favorable and 43% unfavorable. In November of 2016, when all they had was his rhetoric and promises to judge him on, it was 46% favorable and 37% unfavorable. The latest, and most negative, of his ratings are based on his track record. The trend had been downward and is poised to keep heading that way based on reports that Eddie Gallagher is going to have an active role in the Trump 2020 campaign. It is difficult for many to convince themselves to kill and to rationalize having done so in military operations. Active Duty personnel do not like being compared to murderers. After the My Lai massacre, troops have been better trained in their responsibilities under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners. They take this stuff seriously. So should we.
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