Ethical Standards in Military (Soldiers)

Soldiers are often viewed as being the most disciplined and well respected criminal justice profession. In order to maintain this view there ethical standards that one must follow.

According to the Defense Information School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, the military has a code of ethics that are referred to as core values and are drilled into every new recruit. Especially as public affairs professionals, they have to hold themselves and all service members to high ethical standards.

As Soldiers, the public expects them to be truthful, honest, and professional. If they do not avoid conflicts of interest they can lose the public's' trust, and bring shame to themselves, their career field, and overall service to the country. Examples of conflict faced by soldiers include: bribery which is offering, promising, demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting, or agreeing to receive anything of value to influence any official act. And compensation from other sources which refers to a task or job performed outside normal working hours does not necessarily allow employees to accept payment for performing it. If the undertaking is part of one's official duties, pay for its performance may not be accepted from any other source regardless of when it was performed.

Military leaders while highlighting soldiers' ethical dilemmas stated that in the war in Iraq and war on terrorism, it is often unclear to military leaders who "the enemy" is, creating such ethical dilemmas as whether to bomb threatening targets even though it may harm civilians or use torture tactics to get people to reveal enemy secrets. (Dittmann, 2005) This often comes down to the soldiers using their discretion or resorting to the principle of utilitarianism which supports an act if it benefits the majority of persons.

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