How Administrative Power Replaces Accountability in Today’s Military
Public Domain
There is a moment in institutional life when a name stops functioning as an identity and begins functioning as a narrative.
Inside large hierarchical organizations—especially the military—individuals can sometimes become symbols of problems the institution feels compelled to resolve. A service member’s name becomes shorthand for controversy, disruption, or risk. Once that shift occurs, the individual is no longer evaluated solely as a person whose conduct must be examined.