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In this age more than ever, our service members need to think independently, to fight and serve with wisdom, to think critically, and to communicate effectively in nuanced situations. The call to serve is truly a call to love, something Scripture teaches we cannot do without God. A classical Christian education will teach students—if they pay attention—to love. 

Like many parents at Rockbridge Academy, I did not grow up with a classical Christian education, but I am grateful that my children have. I first heard about this approach to schooling in 1996 from friends involved at Rockbridge in its early years. I was six years into my Navy career at the time, and that initial introduction to classical Christian education planted a seed that, years later, led to enrolling our four children at Rockbridge.

I have often envied the education my kids received at Rockbridge. Though I am no longer on active duty, with two sons who have graduated from Rockbridge and are now in the Navy, I have been reflecting on how classical Christian education prepares one for service in the armed forces. It is common for a given graduating class to have at least one or two—sometimes more—who enlist after high school or attend college at one of the service academies or through an ROTC scholarship. In fact, Rockbridge currently has nearly 40 alumni who are veterans, which represents over 9% of our graduates. (The national average, according to one DOD statistic, is that .5% of high school graduates go on to serve.)

Classical education combined with a worldview rooted in the Scriptures cultivates a healthy thoughtfulness that we might see more as a path to the contemplative life. One might wonder whether the military culture’s emphasis on STEM, cutting edge technology, high-speed action, ambition, and clearly defined metrics for success are at odds with the classical curriculum’s emphasis on linear history, Latin, logic, public speaking, and its traditional arts and sciences course work. Furthermore, how do taking Bible classes every year and learning to follow Christ line up with serving in a secular, government-run, and potentially violent organization such as the military? Do the compassion, wisdom, and Christ-rooted love we seek (and see) in our graduates have a place in our twenty-first-century military?

I believe the answer is a resounding yes; in fact, I’ll argue that a classical Christian education is an excellent way to prepare young men and women for service in the military—and indeed in all walks of life. The Rockbridge curriculum’s emphasis on linear history and related arts and sciences, on communication skills, on the three stages of learning in an integrated curriculum and the understanding that “the heavens declare the glory of God,” that all knowledge and honor belong to God, and that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” provide a rich foundation for serving in uniform.

Leading with Understanding 
Rockbridge students learn history, philosophy, and literature in chronological periods. This linear view of what happened from ancient times to now; of what stories, songs, and images people created as those things were happening; and of what they thought it all meant teaches students many things useful in the military. They learn that one age responds to and bears the fruit (good or bad) of the one before it; they learn that beliefs and decisions have consequences, and even that the art and ideas we share have roots thousands of years back. In addition, students learn that God is orchestrating the events of history and the cultural movements over time in a glorious display of His character and as an expression of His love. Most students across our nation do not learn these things. As mainstream culture seeks to exclude God and any sense of a greater story, a meta-narrative, people grow increasingly in love with the non-linear, the random, the disconnected sound byte.

The classical curriculum also integrates the different subjects better than the progressive mainstream educational model. Students at Rockbridge read the Iliad while learning about the Peloponnesian War, and they study early American history in parallel with Emerson and Thoreau. The rigors of Latin for eight years keep those ancient roots in view, while training their minds to think carefully and make connections. Math and science are presented biblically as an exploration of what God has created and revealed of Himself in the marvels of nature.

How does a member of the armed forces benefit from this view of history and the integration of academic disciplines—and of faith? Someone serving and leading in our armed forces will make wiser decisions for understanding what has happened in the past. Knowing military history can help understand the why of a present conflict or strategic direction. Even more, learning to see the cause and effect in not only the flow of history but in changes in the arts and philosophy—indeed in man’s view of God himself—equips sailors and soldiers to understand everything as connected to its past. Military leaders will make wiser decisions and care better for their troops if they see situations and people—even technology itself—not in isolation but as connected to past events and ideas. Furthermore, understanding mankind—knowing that God has made people in his image and imbued them with a dignity far beyond what our Constitution recognizes, and knowing that we have a military because people are fallen—is the starting point for truly serving and leading other men and women.

Communicating with Clarity
A second priceless preparation for military service lies in the communication training—the many, sometimes painful (for student and parent!) writing assignments and oral presentations a student at Rockbridge experiences. I have witnessed firsthand the growth in both skill and confidence students gain as they draft complex written arguments and prepare for graded discussions and thesis presentations. Many soldiers, sailors, and marines—whether enlisting straight out of high school or through college commissioning programs—struggle to write and speak effectively.  As high-tech and action-focused as military training and operations can be, none of those things can be planned, arranged, orchestrated, or executed without written and oral communication. Writing instructions for a troop insertion, opening the day with a short talk to the platoon, evaluating sailors on their performance, briefing your department head on an event, and composing a letter of congratulation or condolence all require a foundation in these skills. Those who can do these things well will keep their people and the nation safer.

Serving with Biblical Wisdom 
Finally, a classical Christian education puts our future military leaders on the lifelong path to gaining a heart of wisdom. The progression from the grammar stage to the dialectic to the rhetoric prepares students to learn any subject and grounds their outward-facing adult life in real knowledge and not simple conjecture and emotion. A classical education can help students apply their knowledge to the real questions and situations of life—including the hard decisions and intensity of the military.

The classically educated J.R.R. Tolkien, a Christian and World War I veteran, wrote The Lord of the Rings during World War II with a son in training with the Royal Air Force. The soldier and leader of men Faramir—portrayed by Tolkien as more noble of heart than his elder brother, Boromir—tells Frodo and Sam, “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Numenor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom.” Faramir understands how warfighting fits into a larger picture of the world and does not see it as an end in itself. Too often in history, military men have made power or achievement an end rather than a means. Even in peace time, some military members become enamored with the mechanics and technology of power itself rather than the good they can protect. Several chapters later in the tale, we get a further glimpse of Faramir’s character as one of his soldiers, Beregond, describes him to Pippin: “He is bold, more bold than many deem; for in these days men are slow to believe that a captain can be wise and learned in the scrolls of lore and song, as he is, and yet a man of hardihood and swift judgement in the field. But such is Faramir.”

In this age more than ever, our service members need to think independently, to fight and serve with wisdom, to think critically, and to communicate effectively in nuanced situations. The call to serve is truly a call to love, something Scripture teaches we cannot do without God. A classical Christian education will teach students—if they pay attention—to love. The modern war fighter (or service member who supports and defends in ways other than fighting, such as in the Navy Supply Corps) needs clarity of direction and vision, needs to understand why he or she is firing a weapon, dropping a bomb, disposing of a bomb, spending hours at a computer terminal, hiking miles across rugged terrain, fixing an engine, or operating a drone. Far from mere technical skills, they need wisdom to make decisions, power to act and to restrain, and love to truly care for their troops to defend the United States of America.

Chip Crane, PhD, is a retired Navy Supply Corps officer and Principal Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Maryland, where he teaches professional writing and a course called Tolkien in Oxford. He is also co-author of The Naval Institute Guide to Naval Writing and a communication and teamwork consultant for the federal government and private sector. He and his wife, Sonmin, have four children who all attended Rockbridge Academy; two are currently serving in the Navy.