This article discusses a phenomenon that gained prominence in the 1990s, namely the entry of retired senior Israeli army officers as managers into the educational system. This development will be analyzed through an exposure of the socio-educational mechanisms contributing to this process and an examination of the motivations underlying it. These motivations appear to be related to two circumstances encountered by the military profession in the 1990s. The first is associated with the narrow re-employment interest of the senior army echelon. Given the public's image of its vocation, retired army officers perceived a transference compatibility--namely, public service combined with management capability--in the shift from the military to the educational arena. The latter was regarded as a particularly effective location for their integration into the labour market. The second circumstance is related to the status of the security establishment as a social institution in Israeli society. The security establishment is undergoing an image and cultural crisis which is reflected in the attenuated motivation of youth to serve in the army. The educational system was thus marked as a critical location for shaping and influencing the outlook and ambitions of those about to be drafted into the army, and to "market" the army directly to its immediate target population. The article begins with a description of the status of the military in the Israeli context in general and its involvement in the educational arena over the years in particular. It then addresses the crisis forced upon the military at the beginning of the period under analysis. The third part discusses the variety of practices which the military undertook to preserve its social status, and the fourth part presents in greater detail the strategy employed by them: how the entrance of senior army personnel into the educational system was effected. In its conclusion, the article raises issues concerning the connection between the military and educational arenas and their broader implications for army-society relationships. (Contains 44 notes.)