Military Components There Is Much

Military Components

There is much to be learned through well-constructed readings regarding ethical values, loyalty, and leadership in the military. When it comes to today's conflict dynamics, in a world that is increasingly dangerous, a soldier must be prepared -- intellectually as well as physically and emotionally -- for what might be in the immediate future. Thesis: what emerges from these narratives is the fact that the Army is changing, and is attempting to train soldiers to become more ethically alert notwithstanding difficult assignments. The duties of an NCO go beyond education and chain of command. The modern NCO needs to embrace creativity, must be flexible and must understand that his men are hungry for leadership.

The Ethical NCO

David Crozier explains in detail the kinds of ethical dilemmas that face today's soldier. Crozier discusses the importance of "critical decision making" in a world where "competing value systems" can very quickly disappear and humanity and morality fade into the background. By that he means before a soldier pulls the trigger and takes another life, there needs to be an ethical dimension to what he or she is asked to do. Certainly there is killing to be done in the line of duty for a soldier in a war zone, but as Chaplain Major Mark Johnson explains -- and is quoted by Crozier -- "with war come dilemmas of ethical and moral consequences." In Afghanistan, for example, a soldier must be more than just vigilant and psychologically prepared; a soldier must have a moral background and have respect for people and property. A soldier in the Army must live up to core values (Loyalty, duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage), but the core values that a soldier was raised with also comes into play (Crozier).

"It gets a little bit different when you get into combat," Crozier quotes from remarks by Sgt. Major Russell Faulkner. It boils down to what kind of family you were raised in, how you look up to your role models, and what you have learned in the Army, because reacting to violence or the threat of violence isn't a matter of just knee-jerk firing off rounds. The four "don'ts" that Sgt. Maj. David Bass puts forward offer cover a lot of territory when it comes to thinking ethically. Don't: a) embarrass yourself; b) embarrass your unit; c) embarrass the Army; and d) "don't be 'that guy'" (Crozier). And if a soldier has not had an upbringing in a family that has good ethical values, that soldier must be molded with even more intensity in the Army, because he can't fall back on family values so he must learn new values as an NCO.

What I learned from this reading was that a soldier must be very well prepared in order to determine if that target has something in his hands, and if so, there should be no moral compunction at all because you don't have time to think. You must pull the trigger, and that is the ethical thing to do because if you are killed you are putting your unit in jeopardy; there is now one less soldier to complete the mission. Ethics covers a broad area, and you must not forget that "…we are professionals, Noncommissioned officers, leaders…." (Crozier).

Preparing NCO Corps for the 21st Century

Frederick J. Maxwell asserts that the noncommissioned officer is the key to an Army that is more "responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable and sustainable" than what existed at the turn of the 21st century. He goes on to insist that "professional military education alone is not sufficient" to develop a real NCO leader. The ability to make decisions in a split second, the ability to make the best use of technologies, and the ability to train others, to be able to evaluate the men around you -- these are the components of leadership that Maxwell emphasizes. I like the fact that Maxwell emphasizes versatility, creativity and good coordination skills for the NCO, because today's Army is isn't just about giving orders and expecting everything and every soldier to follow without question. It's about leadership, and yes a civilian education is important, and military training is pivotal to success; but, Maxwell concludes, the NCO must also be able to "apply new, innovative techniques to lead and influence soldiers." That includes encouraging those in the NCO's unit to use the Internet, to engage in distance education, to become technology-savvy and to see a bigger view of the world than just training and combat.

One of the most poignant moments in the third reading (Reading A) to be discussed in this paper was the strategic move in the Civil War to use the "Little Round Top" to foil a Confederate attack. The whole point of presenting that famous battle in the Civil War was to point to the need to be creative, to be able to respond to a situation even though there was no training in advance on this move and as COL Chamberlain noted, "there was nothing in the tactics book about how to get his unit from current disposition into a firm line of advance." This is leadership as it can best be explained. No civilian or military school could have provided COL Chamberlain with the right tactic to keep his troops from being run over by the Rebels.