U.S. Strategic Command should not have apologized for, nor deleted, its New Year’s Eve tweet.
The tweet encapsulated military humor in reflection of the command’s mission: ensuring that U.S. enemies know the U.S. can utterly destroy them.
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Critics of Strategic Command claim its message was inflammatory and unpleasant. They are wrong. This tweet was not a exhortation of bluster, but a statement of fact. U.S. nuclear deterrence is not supposed to be pleasant. Instead, it is supposed to protect the nation from the gravest of threats.
Those serving in Strategic Command recognize this. They recognize that their job is to prepare for America’s worst day in history. And to win the day for the nation. It is natural, then, that they want to celebrate this service for the nation. And we should welcome their celebration. After all, it takes special patriots to choose to serve in nuclear forces. Every day they must consider that day will end with them fighting in bunkers, bombers, and ballistic missile submarines, as their families and tens of millions of other Americans die horrible deaths.
Of course, that’s the job requirement: readiness to make that hard choice in service of country. But Strategic Command is not a place for military oddballs. Cognizant that unstable or erratic individuals do not match well to thermonuclear weapons, the military ensures that only those with high security clearances, top qualifications, and stable minds make the Strategic Command cut.
That takes us back to the original tweet. It might reflect military gallows humor, but it serves the simple purpose of allowing proud service personnel to speak to their readiness and their mission. If you want to attack them for that, fine. But the deterrence of China, North Korea, and Russia does not rest on political correctness. Its rests on America’s perpetual promise of their annihilation if they wage nuclear war against us.
