The military must not settle for being a microcosm Asha Padmanabhan February 10 Service members salute the American flag during a retreat ceremony Oct. 2, 2014, at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. (Airman 1st Class Harry Brexel/Air Force) Following the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and after high-profile cases of military member involvement in far-right and white supremacist demonstrations and violence over the past year, a now common refrain was offered in response: the military is just a microcosm of society. Over my 12 years as an Air Force officer, I’ve heard civilian and military leaders alike refer to the men and women who serve in a different way: the best and brightest the nation has to offer. In daily life, both in and out of uniform, we are held to higher standards of behavior than society as a whole. That is why press reports regularly call attention to the participation of military members and veterans in anti-government and white supremacist acti