He may have worn a uniform but Ronald Reagan was never military...
...but he was a fantastic commander-in-chief.
When you say you would find it hard to support someone without military service time I take that to mean someone who served full-time for a significant time period. Not someone who took a little training but never really put in any field time. It’s just not the same thing.
I’m not arguing the value of military service for a potential CINC since I served over 20 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. I am just saying that what is much much more important is a potential CINC having a correct understanding of the role the U.S. military plays in the elements of national power. Wesley Clark, for instance, may have been a general in the Army but from what I can tell would make a terrible CINC.
MILITARY SERVICE OF RONALD REAGAN
Ronald Wilson Reagan enrolled in a series of home-study Army Extension Courses on 18 March 1935. After completing 14 of the courses, he enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve on 29 April 1937, as a Private assigned to Troop B, 322nd Cavalry at Des Moines, Iowa. He was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps of the Cavalry on 25 May 1937. On June 18 of that year Reagan, who had just moved to Los Angeles to begin his film career, accepted his Officer’s Commission and was assigned to the 323rd Cavalry.
Lieutenant Reagan was ordered to active duty on 19 April 1942. Due to eyesight difficulties, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas. His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at Fort Mason, California, as liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office. Upon the request of the Army Air Forces (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the Cavalry to the AAF on 15 May 1942; the transfer was approved on 9 June 1942. He was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the 1st Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, California. Reagan was promoted to First Lieutenant on 14 January 1943 and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is The Army at Burbank, California. Following this duty, he returned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit, and on 22 July 1943 was promoted to Captain.
In January 1944, Captain Reagan was ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the opening of the sixth War Loan Drive. He was assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit, Culver City, California on 14 November 1944, where he remained until the end of the war. He was recommended for promotion to Major on 2 February 1945, but this recommendation was disapproved on July 17 of that year. On 8 September 1945, he was ordered to report to Fort MacArthur, California, where he was separated from active duty on 9 December 1945.
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/military.html
“Worn the uniform but never military”? What are you smokin?
I assume you mean he did not see combat.
I hope you learned differently since this thread.