Ethics Training and Development in the Military

In June 2006, the Pentagon announced that all US servicemen in Iraq were to undergo additional military ethics training, including lessons in “core warrior values.” Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, then commander of the Multinational Corps in Iraq, said that the training would focus on “professional military values and the importance of disciplined, professional conduct in combat.” This highlighted the growing importance of ethics training and development in the military, not just for the forces of the United States but for those of other countries as well. Formal ethics training programs were a rarity in most armed forces until fairly recently. In the past decade, they have become increasingly common. The Canadian Department of National Defence, for instance, introduced a “Defence Ethics Program” in 1997, and the French military academy at St. Cyr began its program in ethics training in 2002. It is one thing to say that soldiers will have to undergo ethics training, it is quite another to ensure that they learn the right lessons. Indeed, if incorrectly carried out, ethics training might even be counterproductive. It is clear from a survey of ethics training programs in various national militaries that there is no uniformity of approach between them and a lack of coherence within them. There is also disagreement as to the degree to which such programs are necessary in the first place. Given the fact that few Western nations now send their military forces on operations independently, the lack of uniformity about what constitutes ethical behavior and how best to educate soldiers is potentially a cause for alarm. As Major General (Ret.) Patrick Cordingley, former commander of the 7th Armoured Brigade in the British