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There I stood, bald, sweaty, and scared in the summer of 2017, reciting lines from a book of mandatory knowledge to my cadet squad leader at West Point. “The warrior ethos is: I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade,” I said, correctly. “Pretty good, new cadet, except for one thing. It’s pronounced EETH-OSE.” The poor benighted fellow, I thought. Roger, sergeant! I said, and continued staring straight forward at parade rest.

What have Jerusalem and Athens to do with a long day in the hot sun? Every year, Rockbridge graduates attend service academies or ROTC programs. Certainly, the broad, liberal arts education of which West Point and Annapolis boast can build on a classical foundation, but the joyride through academia must end. Mental energy once directed toward neutron transport equations is spent figuring out how to anchor a tent in a windstorm in the California desert. Instead of opining at length on heady moral controversy, the young officer must explain to his Soldier why he should not have tried to run from the cops when they pulled him over for driving drunk. In an age of relative peace, drone strikes, and Microsoft Office, the Homeric deeds of Joshua Chamberlain or James Doolittle seem utterly inaccessible, weak as men are nowadays.

I’m not writing to advertise the modern armed forces to Rockbridge students. Surely there are other fitting vocations for the young mind steeped in Aristotle and Augustine. Rather, I want to expound the value of classical Christian upbringing for those who are set on a military career.

First, the breadth and depth of classical education is excellent preparation for the wide variety of military duties. Regardless of his ever-changing official position title, a young Army officer must play the Renaissance man in a host of tasks: plan and evaluate tactical training, oversee maintenance on heavy machinery, sniff out and punish misconduct, keep track of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment, and far more. This is not to say that former public school students didn’t have to take a variety of subjects in high school. But classical education continuously integrates various disciplines, emphasizes the value of each discipline beyond making a paycheck, and applies critical thinking and writing skills to each, which better prepares an officer to tackle a variety of problems, all the while sharpening his ability to use present experience to tackle the unknown in the future. He also has many opportunities to apply the basics of grammar, logic, and rhetoric in such common obligations as writing reports, conducting investigations, and briefing superiors. 

Second, classical education teaches a tale of culture and civilization that encourages the military officer to look beyond the frustrating mundanity of daily life. I will never break a barbarian stronghold by building a genius second siege-wall, but surely Caesar also spent mind-numbing hours thinking about how to keep his army’s equipment in good condition. The glorious victories of the West are bridged by long, boring periods of standing the watch at home, passing on martial skills to the next generation. Today may be a period of relative inaction, but without millions putting in effort to man the national defenses, they will not function when the action resumes. Where much of education ends with getting a job and doing a job, classical education brings greater purposes into perspective.

Finally, firmly Christian education is an excellent ally for a young man immersed in the sometimes boorish, bureaucratic world of the armed forces. All my friends were avid churchgoers during cadet basic training, when chapel had free cookies and nobody shouting at them. Few live a faithful life when work consumes weekends, success is the supreme moral virtue, equal protection is given to a variety of philosophies, and time off is spent easiest at a club. Yet I’ve also met many strong Christians, most of whom had faithful parents and firmly understood both the truth of Christ and the characteristics of Christian living. Because classical Christian education provides both theological and moral training – and does so earnestly -- it is excellent defense against the double temptation of anti-Christian thinking and coarse living. 

Young men, if you want a life of bravery and danger, join an urban police department. If you want to save your country, raise Christian kids. If you want to live in polished luxury, join the Air Force. But if you are committed to serving in the military, you will do well, because you have been brought up well.