The Commander in Chief
April 9, 2003

Pastor Chuck Roots has been called away from Ripon Free Methodist Church to active duty as a Navy chaplain to the U.S. Marines. Click here to see his photo album.

I love to listen to Andy Rooney. I even have several of his books. Great stuff. But at the conclusion of 60 Minutes this week he said he didn’t like having a president who asked our men and women in the military to go into battle when he had not tasted this same experience himself. I talked back to him on the TV, saying, “But Andy, many of our presidents have not been in the military. Even some who have didn’t always see combat — notably, the president prior to the current occupant of the White House.”

Then this morning I watched as President Bush spoke to twelve thousand Marines at Camp Lejeune, NC. I couldn’t help but see how very popular he is with the folks in the military. Surely they didn’t all vote for him, much less agree with him. But we in the military are to remain politically neutral when we put on the uniform. We serve the Commander in Chief. Period. We do not have to like him. We do not have to agree with his decisions. But we have taken an oath to obey those in authority over us. And the President is our boss.

I read in II Timothy 2:4, “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs — he wants to please his commanding officer.” Well, in the formation of the United States of America, the founding fathers felt it was appropriate to have the highest civilian position in our government also be the highest military position. Our military acknowledges a civilian as the commander over them. This accomplishes several thing. 1) The military purposefully limits its power by serving a civilian leader. This minimizes the likelihood of a charismatic general or admiral attempting a coup. 2) It balances the power between the civilian government and the military. 3) It allows military personnel to focus on the business of training for the purpose of protecting and defending our nation against aggressors. We in the military serve a head of state, not a political leader. Political philosophy is moot to us.

This is not to say that military personnel don’t have their opinions, for surely they do. But that’s not what we’re here for.

The reason I believe this president is enormously popular with the troops is because he says what he means and he means what he says. This is important to us. Why? Because it’s the military person who will be called to go into harm's way, who will dodge bullets and bombs, and who will be looking straight into the business end of a gun. Therefore, we need to know that if we’re called upon to fight, the one making the decisions won’t back down once the order is given.

We simply want to have someone in the role of Commander in Chief who will make the hard decisions and not look back. Not second-guess. Or cave in to the complaints of the opposition. Or feel threatened by nations that don’t agree with us.

American men and women of all beliefs, philosophies, and backgrounds will follow a leader who leads, and who, once the decision is made, will allow us to do what we were trained to do.

This president is just such a person. He’s our Commander in Chief.

God Bless America.