I spent 30 years in the military. Trump should be as far away from US forces as possible.

When we remember how close Nixon brought us to nuclear war, I say we cannot trust Donald Trump with the presidency. I don’t think he would hesitate to use his position as Commander-in-Chief to his personal and political advantage. We know this because he has promoted policies that threaten our military, our democracy, and those who call the United States home.

In the last month alone, Trump has said several times that he would use the military against citizens who oppose his candidacy, and he has reshared social media posts suggesting he would target his opponents, including former President Barack Obama and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, faces the choice of military courts. He has repeatedly stated that the biggest threat to the country comes from his political opponents, whom he describes as the “enemy from within.”

The thought that Trump could seek retaliation by politicizing the American military should terrify us all. It flies in the face of the principles that underpin our democracy, and his plans to do just that should disqualify him from returning to the White House.

The former president has repeatedly insisted that millions of undocumented immigrants must be rounded up and deported. Such a mammoth operation would require the American military, which Trump has promised to deploy. Imagine using American soldiers to round up, house, guard, transport and deport millions of immigrants. They knocked on doors, looking for anyone who might not have papers and taking them to camps.

He also said he would consider using the military for domestic law enforcement in major cities without involving local mayors or governors. These are all policies reminiscent of Nazi Germany, not the United States.

Since Trump has promised to “weed out military officers” who are ideologically hostile to him, military officers in the future could be promoted or assigned solely on the basis of their party affiliation. Our professional military members swear an oath to the Constitution, but Trump seems to believe they should swear allegiance to him.

Trump would be unfettered for a second term. He would surround himself with sycophants chosen for their absolute loyalty – not their expertise or willingness to speak hard truths. The lack of officials willing to “speak truth to power” could be disastrous during a major crisis.

If Trump goes through with his plans to politicize the military and turn it against the American people, I fear we could witness a mass resignation of senior officers who believe such orders contradict their oath to support the Constitution. stand, and there could be chaos in the ranks at a time of increasing global conflict. In the future, there could even be massive fluctuations in the officer corps, depending on which political party wins a future election.

This would not be a professional military focused on defending the nation, but a politicized military in which the American people would likely lose confidence. And I wouldn’t blame them, because if Trump follows through on his threat, then the military would no longer exist to protect them – it would be a force used to threaten them.

My three-decade military career has been characterized by continuous training, numerous deployments, wars, strategic arms control negotiations and the study of civil-military relations. All of these experiences, but especially my examination of our civilian government’s relationship with the American military, contributed to my conclusion that Trump is unfit to be president.

Trump has repeatedly shown that he has no respect for the historic relationship between America’s military and civilian leadership – or for honor, duty, service and sacrifice – and his policies will not only undermine Americans’ trust in the military, but ours as well Democracy is at risk on the brink of catastrophe.

Our system of civil-military relations is essential to the professionalism of our military. Members of our military take an oath to the Constitution – not to a military or political leader. This was fundamental to me when I was a young lieutenant in West Germany, commanding troops in combat in Iraq, serving in senior positions at the Pentagon and the White House, or teaching the subject to students at West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Army War College.

The relationship between America’s civilian and military leadership is based on an implicit “contract” that requires mutual respect, trust and consultation. The military accepts the ultimate authority of the civilian leadership, but in return tries to remain apolitical. Why should we abandon something that has served our democracy so well for someone who has served our nation so poorly?

I fear that my service and that of other veterans will have been in vain if we abandon this fundamental tenet of our democracy.