Military Ethical Issues

The army is grounded in the concept of protecting human rights, with the use of lethal force, but only when necessary. (CG TRADOC, 2010, p.11) This is accomplished by following moral judgment, adapting to operational context, and instilling professional values and virtues. (CG TRADOC, 2010, p.13) To continue to meet aspersions of professionalism four basic responsibilities to moral values must remain constant. These require a clear understanding of the value of the operation, the threat posed by the enemy, the permissible moral cost to us and the enemy, and a clear vision of what winning is. (CG TRADOC, 2010, p.13) Following the four responsivities allows a Soldier to properly view the principal use of force and the concepts of necessity, discrimination, and proportionality. (CG TRADOC, 2010, p.14) Although there are many pieces of this puzzle they must all be working in unison or there will be split from what is morally right, causing the actions of the individual and the organization to drift away from the professionalism that is required. When these pieces are working together a Soldier will have a clear idea of self-command, empathy, and moral pride; versus when these pieces diverge a Soldier will begin to struggle to find their moral compass and embody these additional traits. (CG TRADOC, 2010,

The practice of moral conduct challenges the generally accepted standards. An ethical dilemma is defined as a person has difficulty doing what is right, does not know the correct course of action, or someone who finds the wrong choices alluring (Pollock, Ph.D. & Becker, J.D., 1996). The essential value of studying and understanding ethical dilemmas is not that we have conclusive guides to conduct ourselves morally. Rather, the values lie in becoming conscious of the moral options that are available to us (Guttman, 2000).

The following are the key ethical decision points shown in Platoon. In each of them soldiers make decisions with large ethical ramifications. For each example, where the

I read an article titled, The Never-Ending War The Good Soldier, written by William Langewiesche. The story is about a soldier who is fought in the war in Iraq under the Alpha Company Wolf Pack platoon. The good soldier (Cunningham) under the military protocol, blindly follows his platoon leader through varies immoral methods of carrying out the US mission, which was to promote stability. Civilians died and war crimes happened, while Cunningham was forced to follow through as the platoon fought for the cause. When communicating, individuals/parties should find the best tools for communicating the issues, questions, concerns, etc. pertaining to the cause. Even though you feel strongly about your cause, act/react morally appropriate so as not to veer from the commitment or make others feel that your commitment is not to THE cause, but to a cause of your own. One also has the responsibility to act in a way that will uphold moral society, rather than diminish the morality of the society we live

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf stated, “The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” Although Schwarzkopf makes a compelling argument, his premise is invalid due to its inflexible scope and absolute finality. In other words, not all decisions are metaphorically black and white. Based on differing perspectives, and most certainly for military leaders, there are often shades of grey. General Schwarzkopf’s statement suggests that regardless of the complexity of a problem, there is always a right and a wrong answer to every question. Simple terms of right and wrong are an over simplification of the complex process of ethical

American soldiers have become blind followers to authorities unknown, in a far away place, following orders that puts them in a predicament of whether to stand by their own morals or adhere to the orders given to them for the sake of ‘preserving democracy’.

The issue of ethical standards has always been relevant in an anthropologists work, no more so than now in this hyper-political media driven society. Starting in 2005 the U.S. government created the Human Terrain System (HTS). The Human Terrain System is a programme which would send anthropologists along with the U.S. Army, in an attempt to provide information on the culture of the ‘adversary’ during their missions in the war against Iraq and Afghanistan. The Human Terrain System was one of their efforts in the Middle East to win the ‘hearts-and minds’ of the citizens to ensure smoother operation and less hostility between the armed forces and the local populations. The Unites States Army employed anthropologists to provide “cultural knowledge” for the purpose of more effective counterinsurgency (González 2008:21). However, this programme has given rise to several ethical issues in the anthropological field. Questions of objectivity and morality arise from the employment of a system like the Human Terrain System.

Firstly, in the garrison, the common ethical problem is cheating. Soldier would cheat in the height and weight procedure, during the APFT, or in the training. However, these problems can find a snowball, and it will bigger and bigger, and in the worst case it can cause fatal incidents, so the leader must maintain the ethical awareness. In wartime, the biggest challenge is maintaining the morale without any ethical issues. In the era of mass media, soldiers are a deliberate element of the organization, and this small element can cause a big influence to the whole organization’s morale. If the leader mishandles this elements’ ethical issue the team’s morale could drop and it endangers the team’s

This study responds to a deficiency of research on gender differences in the perception and application of ethical behaviour in a military non-operational environment (‘in barracks’). Its purposes are threefold: Firstly, to examine military personnel’s attitudes towards proper ethical conduct; secondly, to determine whether or not gender differences exist in the perception and application of ethical behaviour and thirdly, to provide a reference for future research.

Throughout everyday life, ethics are apparent within many aspects of an individual’s life, regardless of whether it's in the household, the workplace or even the military. without realizing what they were. Ethics are principles that one follows in their life, which also affects the behavior of an individual. The concepts of ethics falls into several components within one's life: events within history such as Muhammad Ali’s controversy, a religious stance like Christianity, or even a common structure, in this case the military. This complex system contains many people with different upbringings and morals which occasionally creates an ethical dilemma due to the different perspectives of the topic.

We want you to re-analyse the ethical dilemma case. This will include the thoughts and ideas of others in your team. Use the theory and frameworks that you have encountered during the module (the seminar

Overall, I absorbed an abundant of information from this project, which may be applied to my daily life. As a participant of a group, I thought it was motivating to listen to another person’s perspective when it comes to constructing ethical communication decisions. In fact, I believe, this project should be utilized in the employment industry. In the event of my group partner making a suggestion for the second scenario, he expressed, that he learned the technique while being in the military.

How can these two standards help answer our ethical dilemma? We can answer this question by examining a few cases from the current Iraq conflict and others.

However, the fact remains that circumstances and experiences can change even the deep-rooted, core beliefs of a person. The reality of service, especially in violent confrontations, is enough to make anyone think twice about the morality of war and violence. When personal beliefs begin to conflict with the Oath and the obligation of a service member, it is necessary for them to apply the Constitutional Paradigm.

In this seminar the researcher will addressed to ethical dilemmas, these ethical dilemmas will be two complex situations that often involves an apparent conflict in which will result in transgressing another. In every organization individuals face ethical and moral dilemmas, which is definitely a product of the minds of the leaders of the organization. According to Durkheim 2013, ethics really tackles the fundamental questions about one’s human life which relates to how people live and should do in particular situations. However, what is the difference between ethical issue and moral issues? Durkheim 2013 notes that, our morals and values are attribute to a system of beliefs, it may be religion, political or philosophical. Ethics is really how business owners apply those beliefs in their short and long-term goals. Additionally, each concept is intertwined and must be applied carefully to maintain an image of professionalism as well as accountability. Durkheim 2013 notes that, there is definitely a difference between morals and ethics, morals defines one personal characters while ethics stresses a social system in which ones morals are applied.