[February 02, 2014] In a January 26 Washington Post article, several generals and admirals (flag officers) were identified as having involvement in allegedly unethical behavior. A follow-up article appeared two days later. The author rightly exposes what was hidden and is an example of bad leaders. But this is not the entire story.
The military should be neither playing down such accusations nor hoping for the media to ignore the misconduct. Most large organizations are insular about possible embarrassing acts – why would they want to advertise immoral or illegal behavior by their senior leaders – little good could come of it. This goes to the heart of the trust issue both the American people and its military. If misbehavior is hidden, ignored, or lied about, trust is lost.
Is this the whole story? Has the reporter correctly presented the facts? The answer to both these questions is “no.” Presented in the articles are “accusations.” The problem here is that the author presents them as fact, when that is not necessarily the case. Undoubtedly, some of these things did occur. Also, some did not. The credibility of reporters has been stained over the past decade by inaccurate reporting on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is another case of misleading reporting, at least partly.
Publically exposing those who are guilty of misconduct is a good thing and sends a clear message that such acts are unacceptable and no one is exempt. Emphasis here is on the “guilty.” Names of those under investigation should not be made public … innocent until proven guilty is the American system of justice. And, then swift, decisive action to punish the guilty must occur. The military is good at handing out swift and appropriate punishment.
The one danger I see here is that a system of mistrust could develop within the military. All accusations, even the most obviously untrue and trivial will be investigated to similar levels of intensity. The risk is that our more aggressive and best leaders will be targeted by the less scrupulous employees who do not like strong leadership being applied to them. This is what has happened in at one case listed in the Post’s article.
Flag officers should be held to a much higher moral standard. They all understand that and, in addition, they know they are also “living in a fishbowl” where everyone sees what they do … all the more reason for individual transparency in behavior and in their decision-making as well.
I recommend reading of the Washington Post articles (link here) for it gives a good idea how far a few of our senior officer corps have fallen morally. The current trend of political correctness and unwillingness to hold people accountability is making the problem worse. People are hesitant to tell others when they do something wrong. Many of us simply the lack moral courage to take the proper action.
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“Military brass, behaving badly: Files detail a spate of misconduct dogging armed forces.” Craig Whitlock. The Washington Post, January 26, 2014 (accessed January 29, 2014 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/military-brass-behaving-badly-files-detail-a-spate-of-misconduct-dogging-armed-forces/2014/01/26/4d06c770-843d-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html)