In combat situations sometime, soldiers are placed in situations that they would have never imagined. That environment could cause a soldier to react in ways that are considered unethical. As a commander, you must ensure that the command climate of your organizations does not become unethical. First, the commander must not allow the combat environment to cloud his judgment. Therefore, if the leader’s judgment is obscure due to an intense combat environment, he may miscommunicate the wrong message the subordinate soldiers. Second, you must clearly understand the commander’s intent and plainly relay that intent to the soldiers. This is where many commanders get in trouble not fully understanding or assuming they know the commander’s intent. Finally, once an unethical act is committed the commander has to be proactive to handle the situation and communicate to subordinate units that unethical …show more content…
First, personal emotions can obscure a leader’s decision and can cause an unethical act to happen. As leaders, we must understand that when we make negative situations personal it can cause the wrong message communicated to subordinate soldiers. In addition, when leaders are upset due to a situation, it causes leaders to make an ill-rational decision. Therefore, when the soldiers see or hear an unethical act by leadership they feel that that behavior must be acceptable. Secondly, the type of people you hang around can influence your behavior. If you surround yourself around negative or unethical people, you will eventually start making decisions that are negative or unethical. As military leaders, regardless of where you work, on staff or as a commander, you have to surround yourself with positive and ethical people. Having positive and ethical will assist in leaders’ abilities to make sound decisions. Every person needs someone that can remain calm in a hostile
Natural born leaders are almost nonexistent in today’s military. Military members have to complete numerous leadership classes as you progress through the military ranks whether you are an enlisted or as an officer. There are many attributes that people would have to possess to be considered a great leader. Some of those attributes include honesty, respect, trustworthy, and enthusiasm just to name a few. There have been many leaders I have worked with or for over my past 19 years in the Army. One of the most important one would have to be honesty. Honesty is important because if the people that work for you cannot believe what you tell them, they will never trust you or support you. Employees can make or break their supervisor. If they do not like or trust the manager they will not respect them and they will only do the least amount possible. When your employees believe that, you value their opinion and their work ethic. Like you and trust, you they will do anything you ask of them. Whether the decision is right or wrong it is a decision, a leader never want to leave their subordinat...
Military leaders may find themselves in questionable situations: perceived as unethical; lack moral consciousness, or question their character. Dwight Eisenhower demonstrated moral courage by leveraging the ethical principles of duty, loyalty and subordination in endorsing the French Vichy leader Admiral Darlan.
Part 1, The Basics of Leadership, Chapter 1 covers Fundamentals of Leadership while Roles and Relationships are covered in Chapter 2. This section describes and depicts levels of Leadership. We as a military are set apart from other non-military professions in that Soldiers must be prepared to use deadly force and have the courage required to close with and destroy the enemy. All leaders, from non-commissioned officers and warrant officers, to commissioned officers, inherently possess a great responsibility. The repercussions of decisions and actions impact the lives of Soldiers and their families. Additionally, these decisions affect the battlefield environment including enemy and non-combatants, both military and
In our military, leaders are always faced with risk, regardless if it is a training exercise or combat operations. The army has several processes to mitigate risks and commanders must put these safety procedures in place to decrease risk. According ADP 5-0, commanders have to accept prudent risk and exploit opportunities to complete missions. In Iraq and Afghanistan, leaders accepted prudent risks and placed soldiers in harm’s way to complete critical missions. The army defines prudent risk as a deliberate exposure to potential injury or loss and the commander judges the outcome in terms of mission accomplishment as worth the cost. Commanders must be able to recognize and visualize changes in the operational environment. The changes
Black Hearts is a great example of the reality on how severe bad leadership skills can ripple throughout a unit and impact its overall mission. This book serves as a guide for future leaders of America and will set the examples of what not to do in leadership positions. The lessons we can take from these soldiers can help us as potential leaders to become more competent and effective. The fact that this book focused on the hardships, poor decisions and sound judgment of the soldiers it helped emphasize on what was not the best choice of action and leaves a moment for you as the audience to think how you would of done it better. So right or wrong there was a lesson to be learned and the book did a good job including the reader. This book puts you in the shoes of a small group of soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment and gives you an up close and personal take on the experience of the soldiers, from the bottom of the the ranks all the way up to the commander. 502nd Bravo Company 1st platoon deployed in the fall of 2005 into one of the most dangerous battle zones in Iraq known as the “Triangle of Death”. Thrown into the heartland of a growing insurgency, with undefined goals and a shortage of manpower, Bravo Company began piling up casualties at an alarming rate. They suffered many losses, as well as mental anguish. Because of the long and tragic deployment, a collapse in leadership began to unfold causing one of the most tragic, brutal, and infamous deployments in U.S Army history. There were many reasons that caused the deconstruction of leadership, and eventually, the actions of the soldiers accompanied by the lack of control, lead to the rape and murder of an innocent Iraqi girl and her family. This is a story about character...
This book has not changed my views on ethics in combat nor in garrison. In the many years I have been in the military and the over seven combat deployments, I must disagree with Mr. Couch. Instances of unethical behavior are not encouraged to the degree he thinks nor as widespread. Of course, as with any organization where people are present, there will always be outliers
LM01, Ethical Leadership Student Guide. (2012). Maxwell-Gunter AFB. Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (AETC).
Abortion has been a political, social, and personal topic for many years now. The woman’s right to choose has become a law that is still debated, argued and fought over, even though it has been passed. This paper will examine a specific example where abortion is encouraged, identify the Christian world views beliefs and resolution as well as the consequences of such, and compare them with another option.
...issue, it will create a psychological and an emotional gap between the victim and the NCO. In addition, it will produce a hostile unit environment, especially if the NCO took the offender’s side. NCOs must take full responsibility for their own actions and mistakes. Denying problems or pretending they did not exist when confronted, will result in a negative reaction, which will worsen the situation. In addition, NCOs must recognize how prejudice are their decision making processes, be aware of other Soldiers feelings when making decisions or taking any additional actions. NCOs must identify how their behavior and performance affect others, especially their subordinates. Finally, if all NCOs followed and lived the NCO creed and the Army values, they will success and achieve the military goals by creating a positive equal opportunity climate in their place of duty.
Respect to me is admiring someone for their abilities, qualities, or achievements. I think respect is always earned an can never be given. As soldiers soldiers we should always respect our peers because they have made the same sacrifice as us. But as soldiers we should have a higher level of respect for our NCOs because they have done their time an have earned it. Being respectful is not hard it is simple, just treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves.
The US Army's value of Integrity is a quality that is developed by adhering to moral principles. It requires that a person does and say nothing that deceives others. As this integrity grows, so does the trust of other people, which will affect relationships. I have been called an empathetic leader who rapidly gained the respect and trust of subordinates. Additionally, I have demonstrated exceptional standards of duty performance, resilience, and professional bearing within a complex set of stakeholder collaborations in support of joint, interagency, and multinational
In the movie A Few Good Men, two U.S Marines, Lance Corporal Dawson and Private First Class Downey, are accused of murdering another, weaker, marine by the name of PFC William Santiago. Their orders to perform a “code red” were given under the authority of Colonel Nathan Jessup, their commanding officer. It is up to their lawyer Daniel Kaffee and his group, Liutentent Sam Weinberg and Liutentent Commander Joanne Galloway, to prove that Dawson and Downey were strictly following orders and had no intentions of killing PFC Santiago. Their defense is obedience. However, here in lies the question: “Where does one draw the line between following orders and following one’s own morals?” Two articles, “The Abu Ghraib Prison
Soldiers are charged with many different missions as long as they serve their countries and some require the choice between “easy right and a hard left.” What is good, bad, right, and wrong will always weigh on Soldiers minds; it’s their integrity that will ensure they make the best decision available for the circumstance they are facing. “The military needs soldiers who will resist peer pressure to misbehave and who will do what is right not only when the gaze of others is upon them, but also when it is not,” (Robinson, P., 2007) . When a Soldier receives orders to clean his/her weapon and decides to not thoroughly clean their weapon, they run the risk of their weapon not operating properly. If challenged by their superiors ab...
Soldier look up to senior leaders and learn from their actions, many young soldier mimic the actions of their leaders. Thus, lack of core values such as integrity can set lower standard for others to follow and increases the chances of NCOs getting kicked out of the Army or lose their rank.
Military Discipline is a state of order and obedience existing within a command. Self discipline in the military is where soldiers do the 4 rights without being told, even in the absence of the commander. Discipline is created within a unit by instilling a sense of confidence and responsibility in each individual. To strengthen discipline, senior leaders need to give praise to their subordinates, either individually or as a whole, for tasks done well. By doing this, it will accomplish every commanders goal of having a unit that functions well and builds a bond which binds together the team. Everything in life requires some sort of discipline. Whether it is hitting a baseball, learning to sew , playing a musical instrument, making good grades or brushing your teeth it all comes down to a matter of discipline.