Lieutenant General Anthony R. Jones investigated the possible involvement of personnel higher in the chain of command (Jones 2005). Lieutenant General Jones concluded that abuse ranged from inadequate resources, confusion about allowable interrogation techniques, conflicting “policy memoranda,” to “leadership failure.” Lieutenant General Jones also noted that “leadership failure, at the brigade level and below, clearly was a factor in not sooner discovering and taking actions to prevent” the abuses.
Integrity is one of the Army’s core values and one of the cornerstones of the army. The cornerstones of the army are important because they are the very fundamentals that we all must live to uphold. We must always embody and live up to the core beliefs and fundamentals of the army. We must try every day to respect and uphold the army core values and beliefs. These core beliefs are what all the rest of the army beliefs and discipline is built upon in the founding of the army. If we live up to the core beliefs of the army, we are honoring all who have served before. We also honor all those who have yet to serve by leaving the service better than we came to it. We are also honoring all those who have paid the ultimate price for their country. If, we cannot live to uphold the very fundamentals and the very cornerstones of the army way of life then we are letting our peers, subordinates, and senior leaders down. Not only are we letting our peers, subordinates, and senior leaders down but we are letting down all those who have come before and all those yet to come into the service. Not only are we letting our army down we are also letting down all the people who we defend, protect, help and support around the world. By the lack of integrity, we cause our fellow soldiers, leaders, and their families’ trouble as well. We also lose the trust of our peers, and we ostracize our self into becoming the outcast of
In United States Military, particularly the Army, all soldiers both men and women, take an oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution. However, there is one soldier named Bowe Bergdahl who thought that it would be okay to just leave his post, without letting his squad know where he was going, and thus creating a controversy that has rocked the political environment in Washington D.C. After listening to the Serial Podcast by Sarah Koneig and hearing all the interviews from political leaders, former squad mates, and even reporters, it is fair to come to the conclusion that Bowe Bergdahl deserves to be charged with Desertion and Misbehaving before the enemy. In this essay, I am going to briefly explain why Bergdahl deserves to
“The most shocking cover up in the United States Military is not what you would expect (The Invisible War),” reports of sexual assaults over all branches of the military have tremendously increase every since women have been allow to take part of the military. According to the Secretary of Defense, over 500,000 male and female soldiers have suffered of sexual abuse from senior peers and commanders. During the past years, many women reported a variety of cases of sexual abuse. Sadly, the victims were only ignored, blamed and punished for the events. Sexual assaults are considered a scandalous subject which our military has decided to avoid, but by doing so, the number of rapes has increase even faster. Rape is a repetitive criminal;
The military has been about being a cohesive group and working together as one. Thus, many victims do not report sexual trauma because of being accused of terminating that cohesive group regardless who should be blamed. Therefore the military has an option for the victims to file a restrictive or unrestrictive report. Thus, the victim has the choice to remain anonymous in a restricted report, and receive necessary medical and psychological treatment. Or victims can choose an unrestricted report and press formal charges against the assailant, but they must disclose all of their information as well (Williams & Bernstein, 2011). This can come at a high cost to the victim if they want to press charges against their assailant. For instance some victims are prosecuted under an Article 15 for drinking or adultery for the same incident (Krul, 2008). The circumstances could impair the victim’s aspirations of making the military a career in the future. That incident could further reduce any chances of future promotions or even could result in a discharge from military service.
3. Cadets and officers lie under oath in court. It is unacceptable to lie in court. The military has determined that it is essential this case be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. A sub-group in the military can't make its own rules of military morality.
Now you have Col James H. Johnson III, who was recently convicted of this related issue. In a recent article in the Stars and Stripes, June 14, 2012, Nancy Montgomery wrote "KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Col. James Johnson, convicted of fraud, bigamy, and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, was sentenced Thursday to a reprimand and a $300,000 fine.” This Officer was in charge for the morale, welfare and protection of more than 20,000 soldiers under his command during the time of war. How can the Army put trust in these high ranking officials?
Throughout history, the United States Military has faced numerous scandals. From its role in the Vietnam War, to the Iran-Contra Affair, to the Iraq War, to the abuse and denial of due process rights to detainees currently held indefinitely at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; the Department of Defense has undeniably raised many questions about its ethics and treatment toward both civilians and fellow members of the Armed Forces alike. One recent scandal, which would now appear to be becoming the standard, is that of sexual assault within the military. However, due to a campaign of awareness, grassroots activism, and pressuring elected officials to do what is right, things are now beginning to change.
The purpose of this paper is to acquaint the readers with an ethical issue with NCOERs that I came across while serving as a First Sergeant. I was appalled to learn that leaders and raters are writing inaccurate and irrelevant NCOERs and making them less effective, because NCOs are not applying themselves. NCOs expect to be evaluated fairly, objectively, and want to be receiving an NCOER that will allow them to excel for further promotion and assignments. An NCO wants to have the faith that their rater is competent enough to give them a proper rating, good or bad, on their
Many of the standards that I would have frowned upon outside the u s army are essential to the work success within the United States military. Punishment of not following orders is not deemed to be a positive occurrence in an average person’s life, whereas the United States military guide maintains that punishment strengthens my determination and discipline and enables me to learn and fully take the importance of following orders in US army seriously. Not following orders is not an optional choice while living the standards of the United States military.
As a whole, the Army deals with ethical breeches at the subordinate level (I.E. E1 – E6 level) fairly well. Take Abu Ghraib, all the enlisted soldiers that were found guilty were either sentenced to prison, discharged or both. The “Thrill-Kill” soldiers from Ft. Lewis are being prosecuted with one being sentenced to 24 years in prison. These are extreme cases of ethical breeches, and doesn’t address the role the most senior leaders played in these situations and the punishments they received.
The author states “When the orders we receive from a civilian authority pass legal, ethical or moral boundaries, any soldier of any rank has the right and the duty to first question those orders to receive clarification, and if necessary disobey them if they cross the line.” The author says this because he has been in the army for decades and to him it is the highest form of honor. The author is successful in using tone to express his disdain towards a particular candidate, and to warn other candidates of making the same
If these courtesies are not followed, the offending soldier can, and almost always will, be punished. This punishment can come in the form of smoking, essays, extra duty and can go as far as court martial, jail time, or being discharged from the military. In the military, manners and levels of respect help to identify the difference between junior to senior ranking members.
The inconsistent application of Army standards leads to unethical decisions on a daily basis. Despite an emphasis on Army values at all levels, military leaders open themselves up to make unethical decisions when they don’t adhere to set standards. Despite the Army having clear standards on height/weight, APFT, the tattoo policy, and reporting requirements, leaders often take it upon themselves to ignore the standard or create their own. Leaders have the responsibility to maintain and enforce standards which are driven by regulations. If military leaders
In our Military Academies, honor codes are drilled into the heads of every cadet, midshipman and airman. This environment encourages fierce competition to achieve success in complex situations that are designed to eliminate even the best and brightest candidates. These military institutions pride themselves on maintaining strict honor codes that have been the cornerstones of integrity throughout time. But the demand to excel becomes the very tool that encourages the do anything to achieve mentality. Repeated incidents of cheating from 1976 through 2012, at every prestigious military academy, reinforce this contradiction of morality versus success in our society.