WEST POINT, NY — For 75 minutes, Major Joe Amoroso quizzed his students in SS202, American Politics, about the military’s civilian leadership, trust between the military and the public, and how the military should not become a partisan tool.
There was one answer, he said, that would always be acceptable in his class full of sophomores at the U.S. Military Academy. Hesitantly, a cadet replied, “The Constitution.”
“Yes,” Amoroso said emphatically.
His message to the students, known as yearlings, was simple: their loyalty is “not about particular candidates. It is not a particular person or personality who holds these positions. It’s about the Constitution.”
The emphasis for the next generation of military officers that their loyalty must be focused on the country’s democratic foundations and not on any individual is a reflection of how the armed forces are being forced to deal with America’s deep political polarization at a time when trust in traditional institutions is eroding.
The military’s role in particular has come under scrutiny as former President Donald Trump races to reclaim the White House and has laid out an aggressive agenda should he win. It may include using the military in ways that other presidents have not. That could mean invoking the Insurrection Act to send units to the border or patrol the streets of predominantly Democratic cities.
Trump’s rhetoric about top commanders has also raised concerns. During his time in office, Trump once referred to the military leaders in his administration as “my generals.” Earlier this year, he proposed that a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, be put to death for treason.
President Joe Biden warned about Trump’s rhetoric about the military and its leadership in his first campaign speech of the year.
With cadets and midshipmen from across the United States, students from West Point and other service academies are aware of the national mood and the potential for political divisions to seep into the military.
They are exposed to a range of lessons about the Constitution and, in some cases, the history of the civil-military relationship. Each graduate who is commissioned takes multiple oaths in school and during their time in service. Milley emphasized the significance of the oaths in his farewell speech last fall, seemingly taking aim at Trump.
“We do not swear an oath to a king or queen, or to a tyrant or dictator. And we will not swear an oath to a wannabe dictator,” he said.
At the Air Force Academy, the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was a major topic of discussion in the Civil-Military Relations class as junior and senior year cadets began the spring semester the next day.
The coincidental timing “led to introspection about their oath as future officers,” said the instructor, Marybeth Ulrich. One result was a cadet-driven initiative called the Oath Project.
“Inciting a possible insurrection or potential trouble on Capitol Hill creates immediate concern for the military and for the broader public as a whole. So we were very aware of the events as they unfolded,” said 1st Lt. Darrell Miller, now stationed with the Space Force at Buckley Space Force Base near Denver, and one of 13 students in the class who started the project.
Dozens of former and active military members have been charged in the Jan. 6 attack, an attempt to block Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election that Democrat Biden won over Republican Trump. A recent report from the Defense Department’s inspector general found that dozens of military members were suspected of extremist activities, including plotting to overthrow the government, although this number represents only a fraction of the more than two million U.S. military personnel.
As the students examined the three oaths they took, Miller said they realized that not much information had been given about them — “broken down line by line. What does it mean? What do you actually swear allegiance to?’
The group suggested putting more emphasis on the history and purpose of their oaths as well as “what you’re actually pledging your allegiance to,” he said. One point was to demonstrate the distinction between countries where the military expressed allegiance to sovereign states or individuals, as opposed to the U.S. military’s oath to the Constitution.
“We knew what it was and what we should and shouldn’t do, but we didn’t really go into why,” said 1st Lt. Bryan Agustin, another student behind the Oath Project who is stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas.
Although the seniors only had a short time before graduation, they were able to change some of the language during the commissioning ceremony, adding more history about the oath before it was taken. The incoming elementary class that fall also had history added to their ceremony. According to copies provided by the academy, the wording in both cases noted that the oath had its roots in the Revolutionary War and was taken in support of “the democratic processes and civil liberties our Founders enshrined in the Constitution.”
Since then, the Oath Project has been instrumental in further changes, including in the basic training for new students and in their textbooks. The group’s work is also integrated into the academic and military training of cadets. Future plans include symposia for other service academies and ROTC units.
At West Point, the Constitution and Oaths are not only embedded in the curriculum, but also on campus.
Constitution Corner Monument is located near student housing and is a place where cadets pass by every day. Dedicated by members of the Class of 1943 to their fallen classmates, it contains several markers with inscriptions of their oaths and portions of the Constitution.
Looming in Grant Hall were two of the alumni portraits, looking down on diners and visitors, playing a major role in the history of the oath and the civil-military relationship. Ulysses S. Grant, who later became president, led the Union army through the Civil War after an estimated 300 of his fellow graduates renounced their oaths and fought for the Confederacy. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander in World War II who later became president and used the Insurrection Act to call up the 101st Airborne to help integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“The Constitution remains absolutely central to all things we teach, whether explicitly or tangentially linked in the courses,” said Brig. General Shane Reeves, dean of the academic council and a 1996 graduate.
The goal is to train officers to win wars, but current events are intertwined, including Jan. 6, which routinely comes up in classroom discussions. Avoiding it wouldn’t be an option, said Reeves, whose family ties to West Point date back to the 19th century. His son will graduate in May.
He said if newly appointed officers could not answer their units’ questions about current events, “we would have failed.”
“We want the cadets to think, reflect and understand what their obligations are,” he said. “They have some very important obligations: trusting the American people and trying to remain impartial.”
In Amoroso’s American Politics class, the only mention of Biden and Trump, who have so far dominated the Republican Party’s 2024 primaries, came in scenarios he presented about military personnel — even retirees — speaking out in support of candidates and how that would happen. can be interpreted as the position of the army as a whole. While individuals retain the right to express themselves, it is important that the military is not seen as biased, he said.
“Whether you like it or not, you are going to be involved in these political conflicts,” he told the cadets. No matter the circumstances, he added, their foundation should never change: loyalty to the Constitution.
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