Ethical Command Climate Essay

Carl Von Clausewitz describes in his book On War, that war will always have some level of savage passion, and thus if we strive to maintain a level of civility in war, we must teach ourselves intelligent ways to manage force. We must maintain an ethical nature. This poses the question, with the ever-present savage passion in war, how do we maintain an ethical way of war? This is by no means easy to answer. However, by looking at how commanders maintain an ethical command climate we can enlighten are ways of war. In war, a commander sustains an ethical command climate in two ways: 1) he sets the example with his character and his actions; 2) he reinforces the ethical climate with deliberate planning and action. The commander's character and actions are the starting point for a unit's ethical command climate. As units develop they will generally perceive the commander's positive aspects as the norms and use the negative aspects as the boundaries to shape its ethical nature. If a commander chooses a negative model to work with, then the unit can reject that model but still use its boundaries to fall back on in the future, or …show more content…
In order for a commander to sustain an ethical command climate in war, he must reinforce an ethical climate by deliberate planning and action. As critical as it is for a commander to be ethical in nature, its perhaps even more critical how a commander deliberately sets clear, unbending ethical guidance in both verbal and written forms. He must establish a level of doctrine for his unit to abide to in order to minimize confusion and establish official ethical boundaries. In addition to the establishment of those ethical boundaries, he must not hesitate to hold people accountable for their unethical conduct. He must maintain an ethical review process that is transparent and non-bias to evaluate all indiscretion. The maintenance of good order and disciple is key to sustaining an ethical command