FACE IN THE MIRROR: AN ETHICS CODE FOR THE ARMED FORCES
Posted byReed Bonadonna September 16, 2021
We must be clear that ends matter as well as means. To serve an immoral cause, to forswear one’s Constitutional Oath, to engage in treason, even acting within the rules of conduct in war, is not a cause for public adulation.
The American military needs a code of ethics. The American military places considerable emphasis on the ethical aspects of service through instruction in leadership, military ethics, and the various sets of branch core values. Very often, however, reality falls far short of the ideal. Military service can blunt or misdirect the ethical sense. Trauma, disillusionment, an exaggerated sense of entitlement, and what has been termed “moral injury” (MI) can lead a servicemember astray in their ethical behavior. Reminders of this are not hard to find. They include the spectacle of veterans’ difficulties assimilating into civil society, and revelations of war crimes and other forms of misconduct, to include sexual assault. A disproportionately high percentage of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on 6 January were, shamefully, military members and veterans. White supremacist groups have gained a foothold in all branches and among veterans. The idea that racist and fascist ideology is compatible with military service, even that it complements service in the American armed forces, has somehow been allowed to take hold and to grow. The Armed Forces has an ethics problem.
A notable example demonstrating the need for an explicit statement of ethics with clearly defined right and left boundaries comes from the highest levels of the military. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Mark Milley’s participation in a partisan political event with then-president Donald Trump was the subject of much criticism. To his credit, Milley recanted his conduct, and he later pointed to his Constitutional obligation of principle over parties and persons during the transfer of Presidential power to Joe Biden. Still, the fact that the senior officer in the whole of the armed forces, the president’s principal adviser on military matters, underwent a period of public confusion regarding his professional and ethical obligations is a clear indicator of the need for more clarity and conversation regarding the vital ethical underpinnings of military service.
https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/ethics-code/
