Developing Good Soldiers: The Problem of Fragmentation Within the Army

Abstract

Fragmentation – a form of which involves the division of soldiers' lives into professional and personal domains that are insulated from each other – is a significant problem for members of the US Army profession. The past 12 years of combat along with the US Army's posture of persistent conflict seem to have intensified this perennial problem in military service. We argue that the Army Profession campaign – the Army's main program for moral development – fails to recognize the problem of fragmentation. Instead, it seems to further the fragmentation of soldiers' lives. Some might contend that the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program – which emphasizes the emotional, social, familial and spiritual domains of soldiers – addresses this problem. We maintain that this is not the case. The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program fails to view the domains of soldier fitness as constitutive of moral development. We conclude by recommending that the Army begin to address the problem of fragmentation by drawing from the resources of its commitment to the virtue tradition. Leaders and soldiers should use the resources that the virtue tradition provides with respect to self-perception, virtue-relevant goals and the emotions to promote soldiers' moral development.