Military Professional Ethics Essay

The main purpose of the Armed Forces consists of defending and protecting any part of the world. The military is expected to act in a good way to be perceived well by others. This is why the military should be an ethically-based organization since if they are not guided by an overarching sense of doing the right thing, then both the nation and the military itself are on their dangerous ways.

Military ethics can be defined as a set of philosophies and practices that guide armed forces members to act consistently with standards and values set by military tradition. Some of the major ethical issues that are established by the military in a country are gender equality, race, the justification for the use of force, age discrimination and political influence (Matthew 102).

Before a military person decides to act, he/she should ensure that his or her actions are ethical and loyal to both the country and the citizens. The main reason why military ethics exists is to accelerate and develop professional character in individuals in the Armed Forces. The following illustrates some of my ethical experience in the military.

Every person serving in the military including me has to accept the principle of civilian control of the military whereby this acceptance is sealed with an oath that has to be taken by everyone. We pledge to defend and support the United States Constitution against all the foreigners, as well as domestic enemies.

This means that we owe our loyalty to the ideals that are outlined in the Constitution and not to an individual. Military in other nations usually swears an allegiance to the military leader or the King which means that they owe their loyalty to an individual but not the Constitution (Matthew 112).

We as military in the United States, are committed to the entire Nation meaning that dealing with civilian leaders is a tough thing. Giving the best military advice on particular issues is what we owe to civilian leaders. The military also owes the civilian leaders for support when they make any decision presuming that the order is lawfully right.

If I find myself in a state whereby I cannot conduct a lawful order in good faith, I will be forced to oblige by resigning my position. This means that the military cannot exist without the major concept of owing. Knowing why we owe particular persons, or the Constitution enables us to recognize our responsibility, duty, and obligation which is what gives rise to ethical reasoning and moral thinking in the military.

It also enables us to cut off from distortion and deception, from lunacies and lies to seeking the truth. We cannot act as we wish or we ought or we should unless we are stuck to the truth. Before making any decisions, we ensure that they are ethical decisions which will not lead to breaking the law.

Our intentions should be clear and act only if they are justified by the law, for example, when it comes to applying force on individuals; my decision to apply force will be based on justification of the law. I should think before I make such decisions since applying force with a wrong reason is not ethical which might cause some trouble.

The main goal of ethical decision-making is to have harmonious interactions with the person who is considered to be ethical (Matthew 132). Ethical decision-making relies mainly upon cooperation and understanding among ethical beings. For example, there was a day I found that my friend took marijuana; the first thing I had to do is to ask him what he was doing with marijuana.

This is the first decision I made thus creating an environment of understanding between us since he is my friend and I do not want to go against the law as a military man who swore an oath to protect the Constitution and the nation. My actions and decisions should be ethical and lawful; I should understand why my friend had marijuana under his care.

However, my decisions on what I will do next with him depends on his truth-worthiness, respect, my responsibility as a military and fairness as he is a citizen of America. This is a hard case for me since this is my friend whom I care for and has gone against the laws of America by having illegal drugs.

I will betray the law if I decide to ignore the issue and assume that everything is alright and I will feel bad about myself for turning my friend to the police for defying the laws. The effect on me can be long term or short term based on the decision I make; to obey the law or go against the law.

This is where ethical decision-making must be applied to be fair to the nation and my friend. I should avoid all the obstacles that will lead me to make the wrong decision. Therefore, as a loyal and ethical military officer, after discussing the issue with my friend to try to understand why he possessed marijuana, my decisions will be based on his truth-worthiness since he is someone I trust and have known for a long period.

In conclusion, one has to stress that the military is expected to act in a good and ethical way since they had sworn an oath to be truthful to the Constitution and the nation. The decisions they make should be based on truth-worthiness, fairness, and respect to what they are loyal to.

Works Cited

Matthew, Moten. The Army Officers’ Professional Ethic—Past, Present, and Future. Prentice: Prentice Hall Publishers, 2010. Print.