Ethical Decision-making Vignettes

[Il Duce]

I’ve been leading a professional development program in my battalion since I took over as XO a few months ago. Once a month we go through vignettes on decision-making and ethics. Instead of taking them from existing sites like the previous XO I’ve been producing them myself. I was hoping to use this forum to get feedback and ideas for making them better and extending the narrative in a realistic way that will still generate good discussion amongst the company command teams. If you like anything in any of the vignettes feel free to use them yourself, nothing proprietary – just trying to build good training.

My BN is a Division Headquarters BN, so all the company command teams are HQs Company Commanders – and they’re the training audience. So, with the vignettes I tried to come up with a scenario that would put them in plausible situations similar to where they are now, yet still have the ability to challenge them with ethical and decision-making challenges.

The way they’re laid out is chronological. The first scenario sets the narrative stage, then the vignettes follow. Right now we’re on the second step in the scenario but haven’t gotten to the vignettes in the 2nd stage. I give the company command teams the top portion of the vignette (above the line) – the part below the line I use, along with the BN CDR and BN CSM, to help guide the discussion.

Really appreciate any ideas for making the vignettes better and especially expanding the scenario and vignettes going forward.

 

[Il Duce]

Scenario Stage Setter 1:

You have successfully redeployed your company from Afghanistan, executed RESET, and are well into train-up to ARFORGEN ready status. The previous year has been a challenge as the Army downsized and adjusted to greatly reduced resources. You have had to watch a relatively large number of Soldiers and peers get out of the Army as re-enlistment and promotions dried up. You have further had to contend with reduced resources for supplies, ammunition, equipment and training. Nevertheless, you feel your company has performed well and is ready for the RAF mission and none too soon. The Middle East has continued to deteriorate with failed states in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, a newly-independent Kurdistan in low-intensity conflict with Iran and Turkey with instability increasing in the Gulf States and Egypt. Responding to an increasingly destabilized situation the President seems determined to commit ground forces in the coming months as air power alone has proved ineffective.

You are called into your BN CDR’s office and informed you are being given a once-in-a-career opportunity. 3rd BCT, 10th MTN DIV (LI) will be deploying to Syria in the next 3-6 months with a JTF commanded by another Division. You are giving the opportunity to command/1SG the HHC for the BEB, a second command/1SG opportunity. You report in 30 days.

Although the opportunity is truly ‘once-in-a-career’ you are not without trepidation. You’re not that excited about Ft. Polk, LA as a location (however brief) and you’re aware through the rumor mill 3BCT has not fared well over the last year. Cut-backs on training readiness have hit especially hard at JRTC and 3BCT has had to serve a much larger role as OPFOR. The BCT CDR and CSM are leaving in the next 45 days (after less than a year in command). The BEB transition has been a challenge to the readiness of non-EN units at FDNY, you can only imagine what it’s been like at Ft. Polk without the resources of a DIV HQs.

Nevertheless, you accept and are on your way to take a new company, prepare it for combat, and deploy to a new war.

 

[Il Duce]

Vignette 1:

Immediately upon arrival at the company to begin your change-of-command inventories you do not like what you see. Soldiers regularly present a slovenly and unprofessional appearance, you notice a great deal of what strikes you as unprofessional horseplay – Soldiers yelling at each other from across the company area, failure to salute, and you’ve yet to see a Soldier go to parade rest for an NCO. As you begin your change of command inventories your fears are reinforced. You are missing a great deal of equipment and it’s clear property accountability and maintenance has not been a high-priority in this unit. The outgoing commander is generally absent and treats you with sullen disinterest. You realize almost immediately this unit has not been maintaining CSDP practices as hand-receipt holders have no idea where their equipment is or how to maintain it. The XO seems like a nice kid but is straight out of the basic course and is totally clueless. The outgoing commander is both Ranger and Sapper qualified, and seems to be well-liked – though you can’t tell if he is respected. You have yet to meet the 1SG.

You know you will have your work cut out for you in this company but are faced with a decision at the outset. You know there will be at least one FLIPL but the total dollar amount of missing property doesn’t seem to concern the out-going CDR. You assess the accountability practices of the outgoing commander are extraordinarily negligent. Do you take any action other than your inventories – report him, bring your concerns to others?

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Themes – Duty (report offenses), Loyalty ( ratting out fellow officers), Command Climate (how will you be seen as you start out).

Additional Details:
- Fellow officers in the unit don’t like or respect the out-going CDR but say he is a favorite of the BCT and BN CDR as he was their pick
- plus is one of the only members of the BCT with an award for valor from OIF/OEF
- BCT and BN CDR are both changing out in the next two months and there is a noticeable drop in their concern for issues
- BN CDR seems to dismiss your concerns saying ‘nobody likes a spotlight Ranger, the Army is about fighting not bean counting’
- 1SG and the outgoing CDR are best friends, spending most weekends together. He is a veteran of elite units and doesn’t think spit-and-polish builds fighting units – attitude and PT does

Discussion:
- What’s the best way to take over a unit not meeting the standard?
- What if the company doesn’t have a vision of itself as not meeting the standard. Outgoing command team is well-liked, if not exactly respected.
- How do you establish yourself in a ‘combat arms’ culture when you are an operations support MOS?
- What support and relationships are critical to your success?

 

[Il Duce]

Vignette 2:

One of the most popular PT events your company participates in is the weekly sports PT day. The sports rotate and are very competitive with a lot of discussion by troops before and after the events on who is going to come out ahead. Several NCOs take the lead in organizing the sessions and it was a favorite of the old command team.

The first event you participate in is ‘combatives’ training which strikes you as much more like ‘King-of-the-Hill’ as various NCOs, Soldiers, and Officers square off. Some of the fights get pretty rough and the event ends with several bloody lips, black eyes, and two Soldiers with profiles due to joint injuries.

The next session is a football game that is equally rough. One CWO goes down with a knee injury that will require months of physical therapy and make him non-deployable.
What do you do about sports PT?

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Themes – Risk Management, Esprit de Corps, Physical Training (objectives and uses)

Additional Details:
- Some of the Soldiers in your company have TBI diagnoses from previous tours
- There is evidence some Soldiers are bullied or hazed into participating in these events
- The BN CDR and BCT CDR put great emphasis on ‘physical toughness’ and warrior spirit
- No risk management is submitted for the PT events
- ‘Smack Talking’ about the sports events is very popular and has shown up all over the company area – including some offensive and derogatory remarks on white-boards, etc.

Discussion:
- How do you build Esprit de Corps and Warrior Spirit?
- Is physical toughness something you can build into people, train them for?
- What type of ‘smack talk’ is appropriate and can be supported
- What is the leader’s role in risk management? When is risk acceptable?
- What do risk management and PT policies communicate in terms of command climate?

 

[Il Duce]

Vignette 3:

It is Saturday morning but rather than break your weekly routine you get up early and PT. Afterwards you decide to roll by the barracks before breakfast and check in on the CQs. As you pull into the parking lot the sun is not yet up and you see one of the company LTs walking from the barracks side emergency entrance to their car in the parking lot.

The sun is not yet up but you recognize the LT and their car, though they pull out of the parking lot before you get close enough to shout. When you get inside the CQs say they have not seen anything out of the ordinary but they seem much more interested in their X-box than their duties. You also notice the log of checks is all in the same hand-writing and the checks happen at the exact same time each hour – with nothing to report. Further, the CQs cannot see the exit you saw the LT leave from in their current position.

The LT in question is one of the few stars of the unit. You know they were being considered to replace your current XO, who just can’t seem to get it together.
What actions do you take?

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Themes – Fraternization, Standards, Privacy

Additional Details:
- Another member of the unit says the BN CDR has talked about his days as a junior officer before the current fraternization rules fondly with some particularly off-color stories
- Does it matter if the LT is male/female or their race?
- What if the LT is married?
- Word gets back to the LT of your questions/comments and they file an EO complaint against you

Discussion:
- A common issue with fraternization and sexual misconduct is the difficulty ‘proving’ the allegations but does that depend on your burden of proof?
- Sexual mores differ by individuals and cultural background. What do you think is fair in terms of standards?
- Sexual conduct and discipline, especially amongst leaders, can seriously affect reputations of all parties. What is the relationship between keeping discipline private and setting an example you want to maintain in your company?

 

[Il Duce]

Vignette 4:

When you get to your office Monday morning there is a typed note on your desk with no signature – though your office should have been secured over the weekend. The note alleges a senior NCO in your company has an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior Soldier.

The junior Soldier in question is not an outstanding performer and has been in trouble several times for a lack of discipline, financial issues, and being late to formation. She and the NCO are not in the same section. She is not married but the NCO is, though he is currently separated from his spouse.

The NCO in question is an outstanding performer and one you greatly respect. He has been at the forefront of efforts to instill discipline in the ranks and always supports company events. You know he has a close relationship with the BN CSM.

What actions do you take?

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Themes – Fraternization, Standards, Privacy

Additional Details:
- The senior NCO and Soldier deny any illicit involvement however, the two have exchanged phone calls and met outside of work ostensibly for the purposes of mentoring the junior Soldier.
- The Soldier’s performance has improved in the last few months (time of the alleged relationship) but she has also used the relationship as an excuse to get out of work on at least two occasions (from questioning first line supervisor)
- Your new BN CDR has declared a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on sexual harassment/sexual assault. You know of at least one SGM in the BCT who was removed and had to PCS over an allegation which the investigation proved unfounded.

Discussion:
- Would it matter if the two Soldiers were of the same sex?
- What is the role of the CDR in judging impropriety vs the appearance of impropriety?
- What role do leaders take when attempting to set standards without a clear idea of the guilt/innocence of persons involved?

 

[Il Duce]

Vignette 5:

The BN’s participation in the BCT QTB was a disaster. The BN CDR came back from it and counseling all the company commander saying ‘my number one priority is training, we are deploying in the next few months and the BCT and DIV CDR’s are not afraid to relieve CDR’s who don’t bring their stats up.’

You are a little confused by the BN CDR’s sudden focus, he has not had a problem with training before now. In discussion with the S-3 you find out it’s not so much ‘training’ as the training statistics and use of DTMS. The BN has to get it’s training annotated in DTMS or risk being assessed as having failed to meet readiness standards. The larger consequences could mean the BCT falling off the upcoming deployment, an event that would almost assuredly result in reliefs across the board.

Training has been a struggle since you took over. It has always been very decentralized, with each section and special platoon handling their own training. Your general assessment is the company could use more battle-focused training rather than focusing on 350-1 training. You know DTMS has been a nightmare as you have no experienced users in the company and training is rarely inputted. When checking on training you’ve often felt like it was check-the-block and you had several more battle-focused events planned. However, you feel you could fairly easily up the stats in DTMS if you scheduled classroom instruction and knocked out 350-1 training, or was more cursory with other requirements – like battle drills.

In the first BN training meeting after the shift you realize the other CDR’s must be juking their stats as they have huge increases. After speaking with the A Co CDR he tells you ‘look, I need to prepare this company for war, not sit in classes. If the CDR wants stats, I’ll give him stats.’ You speak with a colleague you trust and he says ‘I don’t really think that’s so bad, especially if we go back later and complete the training, there’s no reason to commit career suicide on stats that are unacheiveable.’

If the BN CDR notices anything he doesn’t share it with any of the Company command teams.
What actions do you take?
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Themes – Training, Duty (prepare for war, follow the CDR’s guidance), Honesty, Discretion

Additional Details:
- The EN companies seem more than ready for war but you have grave doubts about the readiness of the Signal and MI companies. However, everyone is juking their stats.

Discussion:
- What’s the CDR’s role in training in a Headquarters Company?
- Is there such a thing as too much honesty? Where does mission accomplishment come into play?
- When working for people with questionable values, or decisions you question, what are the lines you have to set for yourself in where you take a stand?
- Is it possible to be effective yet still be dishonest in some areas?
- Is it fair to single out some elements for behavior others are also guilty of based on your assessment of the consequences?

 

[Il Duce]

Scenario Stage Setter 2:

Your train-up for deployment has ended, you’ve rail-loaded your organic equipment and are days away from boarding flights for the deployment. You’ve found yourself deploying your whole MTOE hand-receipt as the details of your mission have still not been released fully. The BCT is deploying to support a JTF out of Jordan to provide humanitarian relief and a safe zone for refugees of the fighting in Syria.

The JTF HQs is in tentage on concrete pads approximately 10km into Jordan on the Syria/Jordan border within 30 km of two refugee camps. The JTF HQs has a C-17 capable (during daylight) airstrip and a BN-sized helicopter landing pad built from mobile matting. Security of the JTF HQs compound is augmented by Jordanian troops, who also secure the refugee camps.

The charter authorizing action by your JTF calls for a ‘safe-zone’ in Syria for refugees extending 80km into Syria. Brown-out conditions are making the original concept of protecting the safe-zone inside Syria impossible with air power alone. The majority of the BCT staff and at least one of the infantry BNs is needed to augment the JTF staff and secure the JTF HQs respectively. RUMINT is there will be a BCT(-) TF sent inside Syria to set up a FOB, and secure a corridor for refugees to flee the fighting. You know if that’s the case your BN will be a part of it as EN, MI, and SIGNAL assets will be a critical part of the element.

 

[Il Duce]

Stage 2 Vignette 1:

Your main body flight leaves in 10 days so you’re on a reduced schedule after block leave to let as many Soldiers get down time and time with their families as possible. You receive a call at home from your counterpart in the command team (1SG or CC) and go to the office to be met by your SHARP rep.

One of your motor SGT’s, and your company UMO, was out drinking the night before and ended up waking up next to a WO in another company. The SGT went to the SHARP rep to receive services and has not yet decided whether to file a restricted, unrestricted, or no report at all. The SGT remembers very little of the event but in the SHARP representatives opinion is traumatized and was very likely the victim of a sexual assault. The SGT is a squared away NCO and absolutely critical to your mission. You’re not sure you’re going to be able to receive your equipment on the other end fast enough to complete your mission without the NCO on the other side. The WO, as far as you know, is a well-respected member of the other company and you know is critical to their mission. The WO is one of the few senior WOs in the BN with combat experience as a WO. Most of the other WOs in the BN are WO1 or WO2s on their first deployment as WOs.

What actions do you take? What are the most important things for you to consider?
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Themes – Duty (punish wrongdoing; accomplish the mission), Command Climate (what effect will your response have on how leadership in the company is seen).

Additional Details:
- The most important thing to the SGT is the mission. The SGT expressed to the SHARP rep how important it is to them not to let the unit down or let this make them fail in their mission
- The WO is a favorite of both their company commander and the BN CDR. One of the few WOs consistently seen eating with the BN CMD group at meals

Discussion:
- Sex of the individuals involved is not mentioned on purpose. Does it matter? Would it make a difference to your decisions based on sex and age?
- Does the mission ever trump the needs of individual Soldiers? What do you owe the Soldiers in this case, the Army, your mission?
- What are the effects cases like this can have on overall unit morale? Are you concerned members of your unit might take justice into their own hands?
- Is it too late to cross-level personnel? Are you willing to bring somebody not originally slated for the deployment onto the manifest with 10 days to departure?

 

[Il Duce]

Stage 2 Vignette 2:

Your main body flight leaves in 10 days so you’re on a reduced schedule after block leave to let as many Soldiers get down time and time with their families as possible. You receive a call from your BN command team and go into the office. The word is official, a BCT(-) TF will deploy 60km into Syria and set up a FOB in order to project combat power against Syrian government forces and insurgents interdicting or harassing civilian refugees moving towards sanctuary in Jordan.

In order to keep the TF small the BEB is moving in with only the BN HQs and one company – yours. You’ll receive about a 1/3 of the Signal Co and MI Co – but almost half the EN company. The major mission for the BEB will be to set up the FOB, assist the S-6 in establishing communications, and support the S-2 with forces to collect intelligence.
The SGM brings up his concern that some of the companies haven’t focused enough on close-combat capabilities, believing they’d be conducting humanitarian relief from sanctuary. He is also concerned none of these elements have worked together in this configuration together, and you’ll have little time before moving into Syria once we deploy.

The BC leaves it up to you if you want to bring everyone in and execute additional training before wheels up, he can move your element an additional 15 days later to Main Body 3 to give you more time to train if you’d like – however, it means cutting leave for other troops that have to be shifted. The resources of the post are at your disposal if you want to run ranges and the like – but it’s a lot of planning and action you’d have to do on short notice while most troopers expect to be taking down time.

What actions do you take? What are the most important things for you to consider?
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Themes – Duty (accomplish the mission, care for Soldiers), Preparation, Role of the Command Team

Additional Details:
- Train-up for the deployment has focused heavily on ROE, humanitarian assistance, and cultural awareness – not on close-combat tasks
- The companies are trained separately. You haven’t done any exercises in close coordination with the other companies other than the support functions you provide
- The BCT S-6 and S-2 are staying on the main FOB in Jordan, the S-6 and S-2 functions in Syria will be executed by their 2ICs.

Discussion:
- What is the role of the command team in preparing for combat? Is it reasonable to cut out some things to make time for others? Are there things it’s never ok to cut?
- Soldiers need down-time but are they entitled to it? Where does mission preparation take precedence?
- The command team sets expectations. Where/how do you think the command team can do a better job setting expectations for their element.

 

[El Cid]

Themes – Duty (report offenses), Loyalty ( ratting out fellow officers), Command Climate (how will you be seen as you start out).

Loyalty vs. Integrity. I wrote this last year as a way to explain the gray area between having your fellow service member's back and duty to the service/country. I hate it when it's called ratting out or snitching (loyalty to each other in spite of the rules), especially when your doing the right thing (loyalty to the service because of the rules).

Edited for Army talk:

"There’s a HUGE difference between loyalty and integrity. Loyalty to your Officers is always having your brother/sister’s back. Integrity is not breaking the rules even when no one’s looking. What happens when an Officer breaks the rules? Do you got his back or do you have integrity? From day one, wherever you go, set the tone that your integrity will NEVER be in question. Loyalty doesn’t include breaking the law/rules/regulations. A good leader should never ask you to. If they do, 1) they are no longer a good leader, 2) maintain your integrity. Your loyalty is with your fellow Officers but EVERY SOLDIER’S ultimate loyalty is to the Army and the country. Loyalty and integrity is what we do. It’s what makes us, the service members at large, so special in the American people’s eyes. Lose your integrity and you’ve lost everything. The only people who will think you’ve lost your loyalty are the ones with no integrity."

Layers of loyalty. That last line, I mean when people call you out for not being loyal to them as an individual vice you being loyal to country/service/command(ship, mission)/shipmate(battle buddy, teammate, etc)/self. In that order.

It would be a tough job to get the whole of the command to see this concept. It's been my experience the loyalty vs integrity argument isn't well understood by senior people so getting junior folks up to speed plus the senior people who don't get it, would be tough and take more than a minute to implement. Totally worth it. It's a discussion every command should have and maybe how the scenario could be solved. Talk about it, let everyone know where you stand, implement it and be about it.

 

[El Cid]

Themes – Fraternization, Standards, Privacy

Additional Details:
- The senior NCO and Soldier deny any illicit involvement however, the two have exchanged phone calls and met outside of work ostensibly for the purposes of mentoring the junior Soldier.
- The Soldier’s performance has improved in the last few months (time of the alleged relationship) but she has also used the relationship as an excuse to get out of work on at least two occasions (from questioning first line supervisor)
- Your new BN CDR has declared a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on sexual harassment/sexual assault. You know of at least one SGM in the BCT who was removed and had to PCS over an allegation which the investigation proved unfounded.

Discussion:
- Would it matter if the two Soldiers were of the same sex?
- What is the role of the CDR in judging impropriety vs the appearance of impropriety?
- What role do leaders take when attempting to set standards without a clear idea of the guilt/innocence of persons involved?

If you can't prove it, train on it.

Have the "suspects" give fraternization policy training to the command/peer group/battalion/division/whatever level is appropriate. It accomplishes a couple of things. 1- they, the suspects, know you know. 2- since your a senior person and your just finding out about it, it let's the rest of the command, who knew about 6 months before you did, know that you know. 3- it puts every on notice. 4- it forces the behavior to stop and/or stop be a blockade to good order and discipline. The "suspects" behavior may never stop and you may never be able to prove it but at least you can get it to a point where its not the focus and the behavior goes underground (which I am not personally opposed to as long as it's consensual and legal-- as in, both over 18, besides the random 17 year old, all service members are at least 18).

If you start an investigation, do so swiftly in order to avoid a PCS with unfounded results and do training in the mean time.

Perception management. It sucks and shouldn't matter in a world that's fair. But we don't live in that place so, perception is reality. If the appearance of impropriety exists, impropriety exists. And that impacts good order and discipline ergo the behavior, even if it's just the appearance of behavior, has to stop. The things we sacrifice for our country. Meaning, just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD. Emotional discipline. Just because you FEEL, doesn't mean you ACT. Sometimes you sacrifice your life for your country, sometimes you sacrifice a date with someone your crushin' on. Oh, the inhumanity of it all.

Sacrifice. If it was convenient, it wouldn't be called sacrifice.

 

[El Cid]

Themes – Risk Management, Esprit de Corps, Physical Training (objectives and uses)

Additional Details:
- Some of the Soldiers in your company have TBI diagnoses from previous tours
- There is evidence some Soldiers are bullied or hazed into participating in these events
- The BN CDR and BCT CDR put great emphasis on ‘physical toughness’ and warrior spirit
- No risk management is submitted for the PT events
- ‘Smack Talking’ about the sports events is very popular and has shown up all over the company area – including some offensive and derogatory remarks on white-boards, etc.

Discussion:
- How do you build Esprit de Corps and Warrior Spirit?
- Is physical toughness something you can build into people, train them for?
- What type of ‘smack talk’ is appropriate and can be supported
- What is the leader’s role in risk management? When is risk acceptable?
- What do risk management and PT policies communicate in terms of command climate?

Acceptance. Everyone wants it from their peer group. Acceptance. What you willfully ignore is what you willfully accept. Acceptance at a team level and acceptance on a personal level. Team acceptance builds Esprit de Corps, the activity doesn't matter, that's why there's bowling alleys on every base everywhere ever. Personal acceptance of bullying behavior (by way of ignoring) does make you a bully at maximum and guilty of hazing by proxy at minimum. Bullying = Hazing. You don't have to be a dick to stop it, but you do have to stop it. Otherwise that bullied soldier may not have his fellow soldier's back when shit hits the fan. If you're training for "toughness", then have it be actual training with safety, risk management, supervision, all that stuff. If you're building Esprit de Corps, well, you can do that whilst baking cookies or cleaning the head. It's convenient to tie toughness training and Esprit de Corps building together but it's not necessary. In this particular scenario, I would split the two up for hazing and safety's sake (no more TBIs) and get the focus back to not who's the toughest individual, but how tough is the team.

 

[Il Duce]

Themes – Duty (report offenses), Loyalty ( ratting out fellow officers), Command Climate (how will you be seen as you start out).

Loyalty vs. Integrity. I wrote this last year as a way to explain the gray area between having your fellow service member's back and duty to the service/country. I hate it when it's called ratting out or snitching (loyalty to each other in spite of the rules), especially when your doing the right thing (loyalty to the service because of the rules).

Edited for Army talk:

"There’s a HUGE difference between loyalty and integrity. Loyalty to your Officers is always having your brother/sister’s back. Integrity is not breaking the rules even when no one’s looking. What happens when an Officer breaks the rules? Do you got his back or do you have integrity? From day one, wherever you go, set the tone that your integrity will NEVER be in question. Loyalty doesn’t include breaking the law/rules/regulations. A good leader should never ask you to. If they do, 1) they are no longer a good leader, 2) maintain your integrity. Your loyalty is with your fellow Officers but EVERY SOLDIER’S ultimate loyalty is to the Army and the country. Loyalty and integrity is what we do. It’s what makes us, the service members at large, so special in the American people’s eyes. Lose your integrity and you’ve lost everything. The only people who will think you’ve lost your loyalty are the ones with no integrity."

Layers of loyalty. That last line, I mean when people call you out for not being loyal to them as an individual vice you being loyal to country/service/command(ship, mission)/shipmate(battle buddy, teammate, etc)/self. In that order.

It would be a tough job to get the whole of the command to see this concept. It's been my experience the loyalty vs integrity argument isn't well understood by senior people so getting junior folks up to speed plus the senior people who don't get it, would be tough and take more than a minute to implement. Totally worth it. It's a discussion every command should have and maybe how the scenario could be solved. Talk about it, let everyone know where you stand, implement it and be about it.

@El Cid - great comments thanks. The theme of not wanting to be a 'rat' has come up over and over again in these (we've gone through the first 5 vignettes). It's interesting to see how the command teams - especially the young commanders - react to the situation of needing to 'tell on' or confront their peers. They don't want to do it but in some cases hadn't really considered where their values and duty lie. In vignette 5 when discussing it the command teams were unified in how it's none of their business what the other companies do and not their role to engage - when they believed the training being pencil-whipped was 350-1. The SGM then changed the scenario - he said 'what if it was weapons training and you need them to cover your flank in a firefight' - all of the sudden the attitudes started to change and it was as though a light was going off in their heads.

 

[El Cid]

Not everyone gets it. Some join for those very reasons; they want a place for Esprit de Corps, loyalty, honor, so they may "get it" sooner rather than later. Some people get it after their first tour. Some never do. The ones that drive me the most crazy are the ones who've made the military a successful career and still don't understand after a decade or more of service. But the ones that do get it, the ones that you helped to get it, that's another reason I stay. That light bulb signifies the future of the service. Best job satisfaction ever.

 

[El Cid]

I was thinking about it... there is sometimes difficulty across all levels when it comes to defining the line between peer pressure and bullying i.e. hazing. Peer pressure is an effective tool. Example, no one can go on liberty until everyone completes a urinalysis. Tends to get rid of the "urinalysis paralysis" rather quickly. But sometimes, peer pressure turns into bullying and figuring out when that happens... well, after thinking about it, the only way I can describe it is like this: Peer pressure vs. bullying is like Nude art vs. pornography. You know the difference when you see it.

 

[BloodStripe]

I know I'm a little late on this, but I was reading a Colonel's blog tonight and I read an entry that when he was a Captain, a General Deegan told him and several other Captain's that combat troops must be held to a highest moral standard possible in peace time, because once exposed to the stress of combat, every man's moral slips. By holding your troops to a higher standard before combat, it gives your troops some room to slip and still be okay. If you go into combat already low morals and they slip, the next thing you know they are committing atrocities.

I know many service members are not happy with the strict garrison rules, but looking at it from this perspective I think it does an excellent job at describing our current military after 13 years of fighting. That is not to say everyone (or even remotely close to everyone) is operating at low moral standards, but it exists. We all know of a cancerous squad or platoon. Hell, maybe even an entire brigade is a shit sandwich that is spewing hate in every direction and because of lousy NCO's and Officer's, that cancer has been allowed to foster, grow, and spread. Much of the backlash of the higher "moral" standards is coming from those NCO's who joined after both wars were in full swing and all they know is digital cammies and deploying. Gone are the days of starting and ironing BDU's and polishing your boots. It has taken away some of the discipline to spend 30 minutes to an hour each evening after being dismissed to get ready for the next day. Now, cammies can be crumbled up in a corner and look good to go that next morning. I know it's an unpopular view point, but spit and polish is all part of the bigger philosophy of attention to detail and discipline, all of which are important when operating outside the wire.

 

[Il Duce]

@SOTGWarrior - agree. One of the things we're trying to stress with this LPD program is that discipline, moral courage, and ethical decision-making are things you have to practice in order to be good at. If you don't have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and enforce little things how are you going to have it to deal with big things under even more stress?

Also, not late at all. I've posted these in hopes of getting ideas for places to take the vignettes. We just completed stage 2 vignette 1 so I'm getting ready to have to generate another. This Saturday is a team building event and I think for it I'm going to come up with a tactical vignette to put the command teams through just to mix things up. I'd like to keep it within the realm of the current scenario if I can but we'll see. I'll post here for those interested once it's done.