ABSTRACT
The uniform expresses the essence of all military academies. The uniform is essential to discipline, and discipline is essential to the proper wearing of the uniform. Yet the wearing of uniforms is most often the fundamental objection to the military school. It is considered as too closely reflecting the uniformed armed services of the country and the promotion of militarism rather than discipline. In 1935, John J. Wicker, president of Fork Union Military Academy, carefully distinguished what he believed to be the difference between “militarism” and “military.” Although some of his wording is now archaic, the basic distinction he made is clear and still pertinent:
Militarism is intensive training in preparation for war. It is animated by an imperialistic spirit with the purpose at heart to use military force for national gain or aggrandizement. It has no particular desire for peace and often is indifferent to the horrible slaughter and after-consequences of war. The embodiment of militarism has revealed itself in such men as the Caesars.
Military training in a Christian school is using the magnificent discipline of military life without inculcating any of the evils or spirit of militarism. On the other hand in a Christian school like Fork Union Military Academy we teach our boys to hate war and we repudiate in their discipline and training every military feature that characterizes the spirit of militarism. Militarism is brutal while military training makes a bigger and better man, and those who have taken military training in school testify to this fact. No military Christian school has ever advocated war. Indeed the military student in the Christian school would be one of the first to plead for a peaceful settlement of an international or national difficulty. [FUMA Catalogue 1935/1936, Introduction]
