Early in his presidency, Richard Nixon was impressed by the elaborate uniforms of 🐼ceremonial guards he encountered in Europe. So he orderedﷺ special outfits for the Secret Service guards protecting the White House. The result was a farce: comic-opera tunics and goofy helmets that belonged on stage at the Met.
Thoroughly un-American, the uniforms didn’t last.
Now, impressed by a French Bastille Day spectacle, President Tr🉐ump wants a massive military parade 🏅of his own𒅌. It’s an idea as bad as Nixon’s but far more cos♏tly.
I don’t know a single veteran who 🏅thinks this big parade is a good idea. It doesn’t pay tribute to our troops but places yet another burden on them. And it’s as wrongheaded as those Nixon get-upsඣ.
Displays of military might have gr☂eat appeal to those who’ve neꦡver served. And parades with miles of tanks, artillery pieces and missiles, along with massive formations of robotically drilled soldiers, produce impressive images. But the strength’s an illusion.
Whenever our adversaries, be they in Moscow, Beijing or Pyongyang, stage extravagant military parades, it makes me smile: I know that those perfect ranks smashing down their boots aren’t prepared to fight: If your priority is big parades, you’re not prepared for bigಞ wars.
As for honoring the troops, as a former private I assure you soldiers don’t take any special joy in standing in the sun for hours while the VIPs suck mimosas in the shade.
If we want to honor our troops, pass the damned defenseꦕ budget.
And don’t take our already over-scheduled troops away from critical training or their families for frivoli♔ty. Not only would the sort of grand parade Trump envisions tie up tens of thousands of troops, it would paral🥀yze staffs and logistics commands for months, play havoc with vital training and grossly misuse assets.
Of course, we’ve had big parades in the past — and worthy ones. But they weren’t displays of power but rather put our troops frꦏont and center.
Our largest parades occurred at the close of the Civil War, when the Union’s battered-but-victorious Army of the Potomac marched through the streets of Washington, followed a bit later by Sherman’s legions — whose soldiers took special 🦄pride in their ragged uniforms.
Those were hard-earned celebrations, as were the parades at the end of the World Wars and after Desert Storm. In every case, thoughඣ, the primary focus was on the heroes; the hardware was s☂econdary.
Our military — active duty, Reserves and National Guard — already contrib𒁏utes contingen꧑ts to many events, from honor guards to hometown parades on Memorial Day. But those appearances are about those who serve us, our neighbors in uniform, not their armaments.
We even have dedicated ceremonial unit🍃s garrisoned in the Washington area to serve the president for special events,✱ such as inaugurations or hosting state visits. And the Army’s Third Infantry Regiment, the “Old Guard,” can put on an impressive display on the South Lawn of the White House any time the president gets a hankering.
But the Old Guard doesn’t have tanks or missiles. Its handful of light artillery pieces only fires salutes. And it♑s most important vehicles are ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚhorse-drawn caissons that bear the remains of our dead to Arlington Cemetery.
We even have aerobatic teams that stage overflights on holidays or at major sporting events — they’r♑e recruiting tools. And New York City gets Fleet Week.
How much pomp and circumstance do we need?
The purpose of our military is to fight. Not to engage in social𒆙 experiments, 𒆙Obama-style, and not to stage Las Vegas-meets-Moscow spectaculars.
Surely, the money could be better used elsewhere. Plenty of vets still need health care. Maneuver battalions could use more training funds. Aircraft need spare parts, ships need rep𒉰airs.
And if, having served in uniform forไ over t🐻wo decades, I may be allowed a personal note, I just don’t like the image of tanks in our streets, no matter the reason. Our military exists to keep tanks out of our streets.
If the president 💝wants a big parade, I suggest he invite high-school bands from around the country. They’d love to march down Pennsylvania Avenue. And it wouldn’t take a single soldier away from preparing for war൩.
Ralph Peters is a retired soldier who loves parades, as long as he isn’t in them.