Although it may be demanding, ethics and values that service members live by is a code of honor and is expected to be fulfilled. From the intensity and awe power of swearing in and during the entire basic training time; ethical codes and values are implanted into a service members mind and slowly become integrated into their own personal code of ethics. “Each company should adopt a written set of ethical rules which determine the standards of appropriate behavior. Such a code would help business ethics to become a major support of organizational culture, and thus the company would win and have a competitive advantage. ”(Rakichevikj, Strezoska, Najdeska, 2010)…
Symbolic- The short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor, is about loss of faith. It shows who many of easily lose faith. In the story learn the story of the Misfit and his two friends, men who have committed crimes and have loss faith. The grandmother talks to the Misfit about god and how it’s never too late to change his ways for the good of his own, however the Misfit no longer believes in a god.…
The two greatest weaknesses of the book are a lack of emphasis or attention applied to the responsibilities of senior leaders as well as the “real-estate” of the book applied towards Close Quarters Defense (CQD), the Navy’s hand-to-hand combat training. While Couch utilizes his example of CQD as a method the Navy employs to teach discipline and ethics, he devotes 10 out of 113 pages of his book to it. Instead, I believe the book could have been further strengthened by commentary on the failures existent within the mid and upper-tier leadership ranks within the military; specifically, toxic command climates and unethical behavior albeit non-tactical in nature. Nonetheless, Couch’s final chapter provides solutions to improving ethical behavior in a succinct manner. Overall, I enjoyed the book and can cite numerous instances from my own personal career where I would echo Couch’s advice and solutions to ethical dilemmas within our ranks.…
Robert D Shadley is a retired major general of the US Army. Nearly twenty years ago, he served as a ranking agent in Aberdeen proving ground (an army training facility in Maryland-Harford County). His book The GAMe: Unraveling a Sex Scandal in The Military is a clear demonstration of Shadley’s facility for morality and justice as well as the love of justice. In this 360-pages-long work published by Beaver 's Pond Press, Shadley exposes mischievous acts of sexual assault that pervaded the military, particularly at his station. These ignominious events followed hot on the heels of another sexual assault incidence in the navy, which was known as the Tailhook scandal.…
The Iraqi prison twenty miles away from Baghdad Abu Ghraib is now infamous for maltreatment. It is unknown how many people the prison held. The vast majority of prisoners were civilians picked up by the military at traffic stops. They were undocumented in the prison or placed under an ambiguous category of "common criminals" or those suspected of "crimes against the coalition". Most were not meant to be in Abu Ghraib, but since many prisoners were undocumented, this went overlooked as did the abuse against them.…
In regards to outcomes, the second ethical lens, are we hurting our military readiness by accepting this wrongdoing ethical behavior? Leaders need to set the example to our troops by taking appropriate actions when there is dishonor…
#6 Child Soldiers, Should They be given Amnesty Child soldiers are a big problem in the world, and the question is that if they should be given amnesty? Child soldiers are normal children from the start, they play and do what children do, but what happens is that they are abducted or they join a rebel group or an army because they need food because their families were killed and they have nowhere else to go, or they were abducted. Child soldiers SHOULD be given amnesty because they have nowhere else to go, they do not know what there doing, and they can’t do anything about it. One reason child soldiers should be given amnesty is because they are forced into fighting.…
Much of Contemporary Literature finds itself between ‘something’ and ‘nothing.’ The ‘something’ which gives purpose or meaning, but the ‘nothing’ negates the ‘something’ and then draws these characters back into the nothingness of modernity. Both “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Connor and “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” by James Tiptree Jr. focus on on the “too” much, or a cataclysmic event that in turn draw the reader and characters back to the nothingness. Essentially, these texts stress that horrific events are going to occur without any purpose or reasoning to explain the “why” of it.…
A backbone built on honor, code, and loyalty defines the “chain-of-command” mentality that associates with the military’s public persona. No clearer is this than in Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men, bringing the judgement line of a military order and a gradually rationalized act of unethical action to the forefront. Commentary considered by Phillip Zimbardo’s “The Stanford Experiment” and Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton…
1. In your own words, define ‘Professionalism’: Professionalism is the ability to put the mission of the ship, morale of the crew, and objectives of the Navy above your own opinions. It is gauged through actions alone. One’s mindset might be that of a professional, but if their actions do not demonstrate it, then they are not a professional. Professionalism is demonstrated multiple times a day even though circulating around the same event.…
Throughout the movie, A Few Good Men, there is controversy about obedience to authority when two marines follow an order believed to be unethical. Privates Dawson and Downey, carry out a “code red”, or hazing, of another member of the unit, and were put on trial for the unintentional murder of Private Santiago. Stanley Milgram, Yale psychologist and author of “The Perils of Obedience” claims, “Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living” (Milgram 78). Along with Milgram, Philip Zimbardo, and Erich Fromm also converse on the psychological issues regarding human behavior. Milgram’s test subjects were tricked into thinking they were electrically shocking someone if they answered a question wrong.…
As a Marine, the civilian world sees us as an immaculate figure to the United States. In a way giving us the respect and honor we so proudly earn. Inside the Marine Corps we learn to honor these values and morals we received since boot camp. It molds us to become disciplined and show this figure to others. If we loose focus as a Marine we sadly decline that and become to be a lesser than normal civilian.…
As a military officer, there are certain responsibilities that I am expected to fulfill as part of my career. First, it is my responsibility to follow all orders as given by my superiors in the military. This is one of the most important concepts for me to grasp as a military officer. One’s success in the military is determined by a person’s ability to follow orders as they are assigned to them. As a military officer, I have to remain respectful to my superiors and fulfill their expectations of me.…
Honor, courage and commitment, the core values of the Marines, define how every Marine in the Corps thinks, acts and fights. Honor is the foundation of a Marine’s character. A Marine never lies, cheats, or steals and always stands by an adamant code of integrity. Courage is the mental, moral, and physical strength embedded in every Marine. This is what allows Marines to remain calm while presented with fear.…
In the military you are expected to obey and respect the orders any officer appointed to a leadership position above you, officers and NCOs. As a soldier you are taught from day one to respect officers and NCOs. No matter how important the order is there will still be consequence although the consequences may be more severe than the others. Officers are not taught to march by officers, they are taught by NCO's.…