US military academies focus on oaths and loyalty to Constitution as political divisions intensify
The U.S. military isn't immune to the country’s deep political polarization and the service academies are trying to update how they teach future officers to navigate that divide
By GARY FIELDS
Published - Jan 14, 2024, 08:00 AM ET
Last Updated - Jan 14, 2024, 08:00 AM EST
WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) — For 75 minutes, Maj. Joe Amoroso quizzed his students in SS202, American Politics, about civilian leadership of the military, the trust between the armed forces and the public, and how the military must not become a partisan tool.
There was one answer, he said, that would always be acceptable in his class filled with second-year students at the U.S. Military Academy. Hesitantly, one cadet offered a response: “The Constitution.”
“Yes,” Amoroso said emphatically.
His message to the students, known as yearlings, was simple: Their loyalty is “not about particular candidates. It’s not a particular person or personality that occupies these positions. It’s about the Constitution.”
