Classical Christian Education and Military Service

BY CHIP CRANE

I have often envied the classical education my kids received. I first heard about this approach in 1996 from friends involved in the early years at Rockbridge Academy, an ACCS school in Crownsville, MD. I was six years into my Navy career at the time, and that initial introduction planted a seed that, years later, led to enrolling our four children at Rockbridge.

Though I am no longer on active duty, with two sons now in the Navy, I have been reflecting on how classical Christian education prepares one for service in the armed forces. Today’s military culture emphasizes STEM, high-speed action, data, ambition, and clear metrics. Are these at odds with classical curriculum’s emphasis on traditional arts and sciences, linear history, Latin, logic, and public speaking? Furthermore, can learning to follow Christ align with serving in a secular, government-run, and potentially violent organization such as the military? Do the compassion, wisdom, and Christ-rooted love we seek (and see) in our graduates have a place in our twenty-first-century armed forces?

I believe the answer is a resounding yes; in fact, I’ll argue that a classical Christian education is an excellent way to prepare young men and women for service in the military—as indeed it is for all walks of life.

LEADING WITH UNDERSTANDING

Classical Christian students learn history, philosophy, and literature together in chronological periods. They read The Iliad while learning about the Peloponnesian War; they study early American history in parallel with Emerson and Thoreau. The stories, songs, and images people created while history was happening reveal what they thought it all meantand teach students many things useful for the military.

They learn that one age responds to and bears the fruit (good or bad) of the one before it—helping them to understand the why of a present conflict or strategic direction. They learn to see cause and effect in not only the flow of history, but in changes in the arts and philosophy—indeed in man’s view of God himself. This understanding equips sailors, soldiers, and leaders to make wiser decisions and care better for their troops as they see situations and people—even technology itselfnot in isolation but as connected to past events and ideas. In addition, classical students learn that God is orchestrating the events of history and the cultural movements over time in a glorious display of his character and as an expression of his love.

Most students across our nation do not learn these things. As mainstream culture seeks to exclude God and any sense of a greater story, a meta-narrative, people grow increasingly in love with the non-linear, the random, the disconnected sound byte. Understanding mankind—knowing that God has made people in his image and imbued them with a dignity far beyond what our Constitution recognizes, and knowing that we have a military because we are fallen—is a starting point to truly serve and lead.

COMMUNICATING WITH CLARITY

A second priceless preparation for military service lies in the communication training—those many, sometimes painful (for student and parent!) writing assignments and oral presentations. I have witnessed firsthand the growth in skill and confidence as students draft complex written arguments and prepare for graded discussions and thesis presentations.

Many soldiers, sailors, and marines—whether enlisting straight out of high school or through college commissioning programs—struggle to write and speak effectively. As high-tech and action-focused as military training and operations can be, none of those things can be planned, orchestrated, or executed without written and oral communication. Writing instructions for a troop insertion, opening the day with a short talk to the platoon, evaluating sailors on their performance, and composing a heartfelt letter of congratulation or condolence all require a foundation in these skills. Those who can communicate skillfully can keep their people—and the nation—safer.

SERVING WITH BIBLICAL WISDOM

Finally, a classical Christian education puts our future military leaders on the lifelong path to gaining a heart of wisdom. The call to serve is truly a call to love, something Scripture teaches we cannot do without God. The progression from the grammar stage to the dialectic to the rhetoric prepares students to learn any subject and grounds their outward-facing adult life in real knowledge and not simple conjecture and emotion. A classical education can help students apply their knowledge to the real questions and situations of life—including the hard decisions and intensity of the military.

Even in peace time, some military members become enamored with the mechanics and technology of power itself rather than the good they can protect. “These days men are slow to believe that a captain can be wise and learned in the scrolls of lore and song, as he is, and yet a man of hardihood and swift judgement in the field. But such is Faramir.” These lines from The Lord of the Rings by the classically educated J.R.R. Tolkien, a Christian and World War I veteran, reflect truth. Tolkien wrote them during World War II with a son in training with the Royal Air Force. A few chapters earlier, Faramir—portrayed by Tolkien as more noble of heart than his elder brother, Boromir—tells Frodo and Sam, “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” Faramir understands warfighting as a means of defending something good and beautiful.

In the right hands, a classical Christian education can cultivate the wisdom and love so vital to success in our sailors, fighters, flyers, and defenders. ✤

Photos: ATALIE DAY PHOTOGRAPHY

Christopher “Chip” Crane, PhD is a retired Navy Supply Corps officer and Principal Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Maryland, where he teaches professional writing, medieval literature, and a course called Tolkien in Oxford. He is the co-author of “The Naval Institute Guide to Naval Writing,” 4th ed, and a communication and teamwork trainer and consultant. He and his wife, Sonmin, have four children.