Ethics of Us Army
ETHICAL CULTURE AUDIT of the United States Army
By: Andrew Driscoll
March 16, 2013
Each soldier in the United States Army, or any military service, will have very different experiences with the ethical culture of their unit. Is this experience due to the organizational culture or how its leaders operate within that culture that creates such an unique experience for every soldier? The point is that if you ask 10 soldiers to conduct an ethical culture audit of the military, I believe you will get 10 different answers that fall on all points on the continuum. Responses that the Army is highly ethical would come from soldiers who have “internalized cultural expectations” (p. 152). Since the Army has such a strong culture, ethical or not, there are always going to be individuals who fight that culture and resist the “internalization” of some or all the values. Typically these soldiers separate from the military during their initial training or when their first time commitment is up, usually 2-3 years. From my experience the United States Army has a highly ethical culture. One could sight any of several dozen scandals or investigations from Abu Grhaib prison abuse to the 101st Airborne soldiers raping and killing a family of five in Iraq to counter my assessment. But, I argue that these incidents occurred in spite of the strong culture, where a combination of “individual character traits” (p.198) and/or trauma suffered in combat operations caused unethical behavior contrary to the ethical training they received. To help prevent such incidents and also study behavior the US Army has developed the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic. Since 2008 the Army has incorporated the research from this organization and trained its mid-level leaders to implement its findings at the unit level. To have a highly ethical organization, you need leadership that is committed to continuous improvement and not complacent with the current culture. In an organization
By: Andrew Driscoll
March 16, 2013
Each soldier in the United States Army, or any military service, will have very different experiences with the ethical culture of their unit. Is this experience due to the organizational culture or how its leaders operate within that culture that creates such an unique experience for every soldier? The point is that if you ask 10 soldiers to conduct an ethical culture audit of the military, I believe you will get 10 different answers that fall on all points on the continuum. Responses that the Army is highly ethical would come from soldiers who have “internalized cultural expectations” (p. 152). Since the Army has such a strong culture, ethical or not, there are always going to be individuals who fight that culture and resist the “internalization” of some or all the values. Typically these soldiers separate from the military during their initial training or when their first time commitment is up, usually 2-3 years. From my experience the United States Army has a highly ethical culture. One could sight any of several dozen scandals or investigations from Abu Grhaib prison abuse to the 101st Airborne soldiers raping and killing a family of five in Iraq to counter my assessment. But, I argue that these incidents occurred in spite of the strong culture, where a combination of “individual character traits” (p.198) and/or trauma suffered in combat operations caused unethical behavior contrary to the ethical training they received. To help prevent such incidents and also study behavior the US Army has developed the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic. Since 2008 the Army has incorporated the research from this organization and trained its mid-level leaders to implement its findings at the unit level. To have a highly ethical organization, you need leadership that is committed to continuous improvement and not complacent with the current culture. In an organization