This is a book about military professionals. It outlines the personal reflections of a U.S. Army lieutenant/captain on active duty in Europe during the Vietnam War. There, the enemy was drugs, boredom, racism, and illiteracy. Few, if any, books concern the Vietnam-era veteran. "The American Military Ethic" tells the story of one such veteran--of basic combat training, of Infantry OCS, and of airborne school--who had charge of a nuclear weapons unit in Europe during the late 1960s and early 1970s. First person accounts are blended with a more traditional scholarly examination of professional military training for junior and senior officers (ROTC and the war colleges) and of the American military ethic itself.

Toner argues that the American military ethic has undergone a deserved rejuvenation. The ethic itself--which is the source of true professionalism--has a sacred character, for it involves its professors in a solemn oath: to preserve and to protect the republic. That mission can lead officers to the ultimate test of leadership: whether to accomplish the mission or to safeguard the people for whom the leader is responsible. Still, this book is not of the guts-and-glory variety. It is a study in practical, real leadership; it examines leadership problems of the type real junior officers confront daily; and it explores the kinds of ethical problems real senior officers frequently confront. Its thesis is this: A professional military ethic depends, ultimately, upon the formation of responsible character in (and by) its leaders; for that, sound education is a necessity. ROTC and senior professional military education depend, therefore, upon challenging, serious, and substantial academic experiences. In the end, the American military ethic is a function of the wisdom and virtue learned and taught by its officers. This volume will be of great interest to active duty military professionals, students of military history, and veterans of the Vietnam era.

The Sword and the Cross is a study of the relationships that exist between politics and ethics. Its intention is to point out that moral convictions conceived and implemented without political wisdom can be bankrupt and that geopolitical strategy formulated and effected without ethical character can be disastrous. Toner contends that politics and ethics are different sides of the same coin. Therefore commanders (that is, leaders in politics and government, in diplomacy, and in the military) must develop both strategic sense and ethical intuition. A study of the relationship between the sacred and the profane, this book promotes an understanding of the ways in which power and purpose can--and must--be complementary.

This study concludes that violence and conflict are part of human existence and that full and final redemption from our struggles is the gift of grace--and not of human artifice. At the same time, we have the burden (and the glory) of doing all we can to achieve our own safety and happiness, which requires political and military prudence. The reconciliation of faith or conscience with power or command is the task of leaders who are informed by civic virtue. In turn, civic virtue is the product of wise education rooted in serious study of what ought to be as well as of what is; but ethically impoverished modern education too rarely asks questions about visions of the Good. Because these conclusions are rooted in a controversial religious and philosophical tradition, they will generally challenge the accepted views in the field.

James H. Toner is professor of international relations and military ethics at the U.S. Air War College and author of Morals Under the Gun.

"Read a chapter from this book. James Toner argues that the cardinal virtues are and must be the core values of the military. By embracing these values, the profession of arms serves as a moral compass in an increasingly confusing age. Building upon a bold introduction, which includes what many will regard as a surprising view of military ethics, Toner examines the four cardinal virtues -- wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice -- and places each in the context of a compelling case study from recent U.S. military history. He discusses the Flinn Case, the Lavelle Affair, a B-52 crash in Washington State, and the courageous actions of Hugh Thompson after My Lai. Morals Under the Gun connects ethics and moral theology with the armed services, demonstrating that the task of preserving virtue, both personal and professional, is a noble, if imperfectible, task.