Recently, my 8-year-old son and I were reading Who Was Abraham Lincoln? by Janet Pascal during one of our pre-bedtime rituals. In terms both a child and a professional soldier can understand, Chapter 8 speaks of the significance of the words delivered by a president during a time of war, dedicated to the preservation of the Union.
As the story retells the events surrounding President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, it says, “The Union was fighting to keep the United States united [and] Lincoln, in two minutes, had gotten to the heart of the subject.” Lincoln’s remarks remain one of the most beautiful and important speeches ever delivered.
As I sat with the words in the appendix of my child’s storybook, I reflected on the significance of what occurred on Nov. 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and began to feel a deeper connection to the Army profession.
Forming Rituals
As I pondered the experience of reading with my son, I was struck by the power of our pre-bedtime routine. Many families try to read bedtime stories every night. Sometimes work interferes, sometimes sickness, sometimes a family movie night … yet, in the course of reading, we have a chance to interact with something profound.
In our case, my son and I were each impacted, albeit in our own ways. Rituals, or habits, have immense power. As stated in Charles Duhigg’s 2012 book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, they “save effort … because habits allow us to ramp down more often.” Habits allow us to conduct activities with less brain processes, freeing our brains to consider more important ideas and to reflect.
There is something to be said about conducting an annual review of our habits. People throughout history have been making annual resolutions to acquire good habits and refrain from destructive ones. Economic institutions ask their customers to consider breaking down their annual personal financial tasks into manageable monthly subtasks in order to achieve lasting personal financial harmony.
Likewise, as members of the Army profession, at the beginning of a year, professional soldiers may be intentional about how we plan to celebrate key events throughout the year that assist us in cultivating a professional identity. We will foster time to consider the implications of newfound habits on our families, our civic duties and our professional identities.
‘Keystone Habits’
Perhaps by intentionally celebrating key calendar events, we can form what Duhigg calls “keystone habits,” which are those “that matter most … the ones that, when they start to shift, dislodge and remake other patterns.”
Important dates on the Army professional’s calendar include:
• Those in the month of May, including Loyalty Day on May 1, Military Spouse Appreciation Day on the Friday before Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day on the last Monday of the month.
May offers a litany of ways to connect your family to our professional identity. Every president since 1958 has marked Loyalty Day as a day to reaffirm loyalty to the United States. As members of the Army, we all have taken an oath to the ideals of these United States, and through affirming to support and defend the Constitution, we swear, or affirm, to uphold the principles of the nation. May gives us pause and a reminder to celebrate our spouses and the brave men and women who have died for this country.
This past year, my family marked Memorial Day by reading the obituary of a recently deceased graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at his gravesite in the oldest military post cemetery in the U.S. at West Point, New York. Spending time among the fallen allows us to lay flowers of memory upon the gravesites of our ancestors. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration maintains 155 national cemeteries in 42 states and Puerto Rico.
• The Army Birthday and Flag Day on June 14 mark the day in 1775 when the Second Continental Congress resolved that six companies would join to become the first Continental Army, established an oath of enlistment and appointed George Washington to command that army. Partake in a local Army ball or a cake-cutting, or place flags in your yard.
• Independence Day on July 4 is a celebration of national independence and the July 4, 1776, adoption by the Second Continental Congress of a unanimous declaration of “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Members of the Army profession see the Declaration of Independence as a moral motivation and aspirational source of the Army Ethic, and we recognize the sanctity of a belief worth fighting for by internalizing the words “to provide new Guards” for the future security of the republic. Our family adopted a practice modeled for me by a former professor, reading the Declaration of Independence aloud with an American flag in view. This past July 4, we read aloud from our front porch at West Point.
• Constitution Day on Sept. 17 celebrates the document that all members of the military swear an oath to defend and uphold. The Constitution is the very document that gives members of the military the authority to serve and defend their client, the American people. This day offers an opportunity to talk to military formations about the oath and the significance of the Constitution as the “moral North Star” for everyone in uniform, as Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has referred to it.
• Veterans Day, Nov. 11, originally was called Armistice Day. On this day, we honor the approximately 19 million living veterans and their willingness to sacrifice for the United States. Supporting America’s living veterans through an affiliated civic group with an event like a pancake breakfast, a memorial service or a parade are great ways to connect your family to a veteran.
Other significant military events throughout the year include National Medal of Honor Day on March 25; Gold Star Spouses Day on April 5; Children of Fallen Patriots Day on May 13 and Armed Forces Day on the third Saturday in May; Purple Heart Day on Aug. 7; and Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day on the last Sunday in September.
Resources to celebrate additional days can be found for individual branches of the Army at the branch birthday website: https://history.army.mil/faq/branches.html
As this new year gets underway, consider the ways you plan to be intentional about focusing on the Army as a profession. Spending time during days of significance assists with helping us connect to why we serve.
Preparing to celebrate an annual calendar of events with the same vigor as we plan annual vacations and special family events serves as a way to harmonize our personal and professional identities while internalizing our chosen status in the profession of arms.
Maj. Benjamin Elliott is the course director for the capstone core course, Officership, at the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic, West Point, New York. His operational deployments include operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He is a 2007 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, and has a master’s degree in strategic intelligence from the National Intelligence University.