<p>For many of us, our country is walking a tightrope between democracy and autocracy.</p><p>I am a US American civilian. I avoided serving in the US military during the Vietnam War.&nbsp;My father and son were in the military – one in WWII – the other a never-deployed Marine.&nbsp;Despite these secondary contact with our armed forces, I do not understand the US military mind and culture.&nbsp;I do know it is the most lethal force in human history.</p><p>For this BCR series -- "Nature of the U.S. Military" -- I ask US Veterans to help me understand the nature of our armed forces.&nbsp;</p><p>And ask them -- if push comes to shove -- will our military uphold this republic of and by the people – or follow the orders of a corrupt Commander-in-Chief</p><p>Captain Matthew Hoh helped get me starte. Matthew Hoh is a Senior Fellow with the <a href="https://internationalpolicy.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong><em>Center for International Policy</em></strong></a> and a member of the <a href="https://eisenhowermedianetwork.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong><em>Eisenhower Media Network</em></strong>.</a></p><p>Matthew Hoh served nearly a dozen years as a US Marine with experiences in overseas wars in the American occupation of Iraq between 2004 and 2007 -- and Captain Hoh contributed to US policy and operations at the Pentagon and State Department.&nbsp;In 2009, Matthew Hoh resigned his position with the State Department in Afghanistan in protest of the escalation of that war.</p><p>Alan Winson</p><p><a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[email protected]</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>