Ethical Decision Making in the Military
Ethical Decision Making in the Military
Lawren John Doyle
Business Ethics 323
Professor Smith
July 25, 2012
Thesis
The American public is bombarded with ethics violations on all levels, including corporate scandals, university cover-ups, and wasteful government spending. Ethical leaders are becoming important now more than ever. If basic, common sense ethics had been exercised, the economy would not be in the situation it is in today. The military has been known for creating exceptional leaders, but just like any other organization, there is always room for improvement. In the military, it is extremely important to make ethical decisions. Leaders are entrusted with hard-earned taxpayer dollars and the lives of America’s most valuable asset, people. This paper focuses on the importance of making sound ethical decisions. Leaders operating overseas must use ethics as a cornerstone in their decision making process to ensure commanders are able to maximize resources and to promote a culture of integrity for soldiers to emulate when they become leaders.
During a recent deployment, our Task Force conducted a series of Joint Combined Exercise Training blocks to build relationships with foreign allies. One of the well-respected platoon leaders began writing inaccurate reports that embellished the positive points and left out the negative points to demonstrate his superior management skills. When others in the team were asked to review the reports and add their comments,no one agreed with the reports. Still, the reports were sent up the chain of command to senior field commanders. Then, shortly afterward, when a few soldierswent out in town to eat with the host nation’s soldiers they were training with, an argument began shortly after dinner. The argument ended with a local national drawing a pistol on one of the