Indeed, the founders of the nation and to an extent the disciplined forces foresaw the need for a stable nation that was free of any threat and backed with a military that could protect the nation’s sovereignty. That objective is what led to the creation of the military. The military personnel by their special position and role in the defense and protection of the sovereign ought to be subjected to a special arrangement. This extends to the liberties and rights that ought to be conferred on them. Ideally, one must first appreciate the special role the military personnel play in society and the need to have their own interests considered. People should appreciate the fact that the military personnel are exposed to risks that become potent and glaring whenever they are commissioned to the battlegrounds. Military personnel whenever in the battleground regardless of the nature of battle, be it rescuing missions, attacks, counterattacks, surveillance, among others, are often in the path of danger. Their lives are often in danger. However, militarism and the spirit of defense and loyalty compel them to face the toughest of challenges. Often, not everyone who goes to battle makes it back. Indeed, the few who come back often come with deformities in the form of injuries and in extreme cases incapacitation. The military work is, therefore, arguably risky and at the least dangerous.
In that context, military personnel need to be incentivized for their services. As much as service is founded on voluntarism, it need be noted that being human, everyone adores life and would want to keep off any potent dangers. In that respect, it is essential for a consideration to be taken in regards to the liberties and rights conferred on military personnel. Society needs to appreciate their spirit and commitment to work and endeavor to encourage and support them. In the same vein, it would be beneficial to allow the military personnel a degree of flexibility in regards to liberties and rights. They need to be allowed more freedoms that are often limited for the civilian equivalent. This reasoning is clearly informed by the appreciation of the colossal and essential role the military personnel play and the fact they often put the nation before self when facing adversaries in battle. It is consequently essential to incentivize such actions through allowing more rights, liberties and privileges.
One may argue that such an approach would be against the legal principle of equality before the law. Such argument would want public opinion to be informed by the fact that the law envisages an equal and fair legal system for all and sundry and that such privileges and exemptions on the military personnel would be an affront to the law. However, while this argument may hold a lot of water due to the merit of equality before the law, it is essential to consider the flipside of such an approach. As much as the market is a free market for all where all and sundry make their own choices and live by the consequences, it must be appreciated that some services are so essential to the extent that the market need mandatorily provide them. One of these essential services is the military service. An approach that treats military personnel as similarly as civilians would dis-incentivize the personnel and end up with detrimental consequences to the nation’s wellbeing.
References
Lewis, D. L. (2009). Essentials of Employment Law. New York: CIPD Publishing.
Samaha, D. (2010). Criminal Law. New York: Cengage Learning.
Schaffner, B. F. (2010). Politics. New York: Cengage Learning.
