Our military needs a commander, not a showman

Cmdr. Dave Petri, USN (Ret.)

Greensboro News & Record

Nov. 12, 2025

I reported aboard my first ship more than 35 years ago. The “ship-to-be” was the USS George Washington (CVN-73), the sixth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, still under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding.

On July 22, 1990, I joined my fellow plank owners for the ship’s christening by first lady Barbara Bush, as President George H.W. Bush delivered the keynote address.

As a young ensign, I was awed. The president’s words carried humility, purpose and reverence for the crew that would one day bring the George Washington to life. He honored the shipbuilders, the sailors and the Navy’s mission, invoking the ship’s namesake: “What George Washington said in the 18th century is truer today than it ever was: ‘To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving the peace.’”

That speech taught me something essential about the presidency: When a commander in chief addresses those in uniform, the focus should be on service, sacrifice and the nation’s purpose — not politics.

Decades later, President Donald Trump’s visit to the same ship revealed how much had changed. His remarks sounded less like a presidential address and more like a campaign rally — boasting about electoral victories, deriding opponents and touting domestic policy.

As someone who served aboard the George Washington, I found it deeply troubling. When a president addresses the military, the message should honor those present, not elevate the speaker above those who serve. Thirty-five years ago, President Bush met that standard. President Trump did not.

This erosion of boundaries is neither new nor partisan. In 2003, President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” landing aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln blurred the line between honor and political theater. A decade later, President Barack Obama used his 2014 West Point address to defend his foreign policy and contrast it with that of his predecessor. Different motives, same drift — a slow loosening of the restraint that once guided presidents who speak to those who serve.

While past presidents occasionally tested those lines, the current president shows little concern — or even awareness — that such boundaries exist. His conduct aboard the George Washington echoed a pattern seen in his recent address to senior military leaders during his visit to Fort Bragg earlier this year, and in his first term. These were not mere lapses of tone but signs of disregard for the principle itself.

That principle is foundational. The U.S. military’s strength rests not on weaponry or technology but on its apolitical character — its disciplined subordination to civilian authority and the rule of law, not to partisanship or personal loyalty. When political leaders of any stripe use the military as a backdrop or prop, they compromise that ethic and corrode the trust that binds the force to the nation it serves.

The ship I helped bring to life carries the motto “Spirit of Freedom.” Those words capture what makes American service unique: devotion to a republic built on principles, not personalities. They also echo the spirit of the man for whom the ship is named.

George Washington understood that the legitimacy of the armed forces depends on restraint and allegiance to the Constitution above all else. Years before he became the first commander in chief, Washington resigned his commission when the Revolutionary War was won, setting the precedent that the military serves the people and that power must always yield to principle.

He warned of the dangers of factionalism and personal ambition, cautioning against those who would “usurp the applause of their country” for their own gain. Washington’s greatness lay not in his ambition, but in his refusal to confuse himself with the country he served. His leadership was grounded in humility and civic virtue, not spectacle — the standard against which every president who stands before the troops should be measured.

Veterans Day is a time to honor all who have worn the uniform — not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans bound by an oath to defend the Constitution. The president must remember that our military serves the nation, not the person who commands it. When that respect is replaced by showmanship, both the office and the uniform are diminished.

Having once served aboard the George Washington, I know her crew — and all who serve — deserve a commander in chief who leads with the humility, duty and restraint our first president set as the measure of leadership.

Humility in power is not weakness; it is the essence of command. This Veterans Day, perhaps we can remember what George Washington did best: knowing when to set aside glory, and when to give it back to the people.

Commander Dave Petri, U.S. Navy (Ret.), serves as the Communications Director of National Security Leaders for America.