Rewarding Loyalty over Morality

[February 1, 2018] A few years ago as an Army Brigade Commander, I was called upon to investigate another senior officer who had purportedly stolen from a military warehouse. Despite my experience in this type of investigation, it lasted months longer than it should have because witnesses were placing their loyalty over morality.

Doing this type of investigation is common and I had a lot of experience concluding my work promptly, fairly, and within established guidelines. A 90-day investigation turned into an ordeal that took nearly half a year. Reporting to my commander, I told her that I was regularly being stonewalled and misled by those in the unit of the officer I was investigating.

“In any society that is governed by the rule of law, some form of morality is always imposed. It’s inescapable.” – Kirk Cameron, American actor

Military values are important and both loyalty and morality (i.e., truth and honor) are two that must be taken together. If I had to chose between the two, morality would trump over loyalty. As this case was being investigated, it was a clear case where loyalty to one’s peer was more important than doing the right thing.

Most of us have heard of the police blue code of silence where the unwritten rule is that officers do not report on a colleague’s errors, misconducts, or crimes. This code also extends to other organizations and, although not as strong, exists also in the U.S. military. Any informal code like this is a form of corruption and misconduct.

As the investigating officer, I was subjected to this “code of silence” among those who had knowledge of the allegations against this officer. These military officers were placing their loyalty to a man over the military’s best interests. Eventually I was able to break through and was able to provide sufficient evidence for a formal criminal investigation to take place.

While the outcome eventually saw the conviction of a military officer for theft, it also ensnared several other officers that caused us to lose confidence in their ability to lead. All were eventually discharged from the military and one serving time in prison.  They had placed their loyalty over morality.

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