We are unique among the world's armies.

We are unique among the world's military.

We don't take an oath to a king or a queen, or a tyrant, or a dictator.

We don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator.

We don't take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that it's America, and we're willing to die to protect it. Hi again, everyone. It is 5 o'clock here in New York. I'm I'm Maedin. In for Nicole Wallace. When the former chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff that you just saw there, General Mark Millie, made those comments, they were

notable for more than one reason. There was, of course, the important message that he was sending

that the United States military serves this country and its constitution alone, not any individual. But his words were also powerful

because he was the one saying them, a man who only wanted to serve the nation, not weighed into

partisan politics. So it is also notable that his successor is speaking out with concern about

what he is witnessing from our current

administration. Retired Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, who served as the chairman of the

Joint Chiefs after General Millie and was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth back in February

of 2025, is the co-author of a new piece in foreign affairs about the value of America's military.

And just like General Millie, he doesn't have to use names for us to know who he is calling out.

In part, he writes, when presidents use the armed forces for more politically contentious missions,

such as addressing domestic crime in cities, the work of the military becomes more fraught.

Resorting to a military solution rather than fixing the underlying incapacity or dysfunction in

civilian institutions diverts the military from focusing on its primary combat mission.

And as George Washington knew, it is not the military's job to save the Republic from political

impasses. Indeed, if you ask too much of the military, you risk the entire enterprise.

Yet that's just what we have seen this administration do. Risk the enterprise of the United

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