Case Study: My Senior Enlisted Leader

First Term Paper My Senior Enlisted Leader, Senior Chief Medina, stressed that even though he believes there is a clear right answer to this case study, but it is not an easy decision to make. The mission is very important, and in the Constitutional Paradigm the mission falls just below the Constitution. Accomplishing the mission would make the Skipper look good and in doing so make me, the Division Officer, look good. Great measures must be taken to accomplish the mission, but the mission is not worth compromising one’s personal honor and integrity. As an officer, it is my duty to take full responsibility for my division. Things will not always go perfectly, and it is important to accept the consequences of not completing tasks on time, …show more content…
Aristotle argues that a person’s focus should be on living out virtues. Allowing the Division Chief to sign off on the maintenance records reveals multiple excesses and deficiencies in the character of both the Division Chief and the Division Officer. What results from this decision is an excess in pride and deficiencies in justice, self-control, loyalty, courage, humility, and honesty. By desiring the quick solution free from scolding and punishment, I as the Division Officer prove that I am the kind of person who values pride over all other things. Aristotle’s belief that habituation will influence further actions also encourages the Division Chief to lie about the maintenance. If I allow the Chief to lie to the Captain and the Commodore, the Chief might lie to me about a different issue in the future. Allowing a habituation of this bad behavior will lead to more problems further on in my Division Officer tour. By refusing to allow lying in my division, I would prove to my sailors and Skipper that I am a person of loyalty, courage, and honesty. Although the mission is very important, proving to your sailors that their Division Officer is a person of integrity is essential as …show more content…
Although there would be benefits to allowing the mistake to go overlooked, Kant’s and Mill’s theories weigh heaviest on my decision. Most likely, the Division Chief is right in his assessment, the inspection would go according to plan and no harm would come from lying about the maintenance work. However, falsifying the maintenance work is morally unjust because it fails to portray me, the Division Officer, as a man of integrity. It is very important to promote a command climate of honesty and integrity. As Senior Chief Medina said, it is crucial to sell one’s unit on the character of their leader. Nurturing a sense of mutual trust is very important for the officer-enlisted relationship. If the maintenance could be completed by inspection time, even if it took place over the weekend when the division was supposed to be on liberty, it would be my responsibility to call in personnel to perform the necessary maintenance on the equipment if possible. If there is some way to remedy this issue before inspection, my loyalty to the mission and my Skipper would compel me to devote all of my remaining time and resources before the inspection into completing the maintenance. My sailors would detest the idea of working on the weekend, but I would do everything I could to support them. I would try to work with the Skipper and see that my personnel would receive benefits for