MAINTAINING DISCIPLINE IN DETAINEE OPERATIONS: A STUDY IN SMALL UNIT LEADERSHIP AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOR

摘要

This is a case of ethical failure directly attributable to unsuccessful small-unit leadership. For junior and mid-grade officers and enlisted, leadership is the most significant factor in ethical military behavior. Establishing and maintaining effective leadership and its inherent authority in small units is also one of the most difficult and under-appreciated leadership challenges for both the leader and the led. In this case, 1LT Moore and SFC XXXX failed to establish a cohesive leadership team, and the result could have been another 'Strategic Corporal' headline, with loss of life, national embarrassment, and international consequences rivaling those of Abu Ghraib. Leadership failures contributed substantially to CPL XXXX and SFC XXXX's unethical flouting of the command directives regarding established and well-reasoned detainee handling processes.