The navy can help individuals cope with ethical dilemmas they will encounter through cultural and historical training. Troops must be aware of the history and culture of the area they operate in to preserve combat efficiency and promote polite treatment of the population (Haskins, 2010). Unacquaintance with culture can heighten the stress of real injury. The navy should promote book and article conversations using professional reading programs, seminars, and videos (Bishop, 2013). Critical historical analysis helps troops comprehend counterinsurgency tactics and make better decisions in highly dispersed operations. The public’s opinion of the government, counterinsurgent forces, and insurgents is important to the war’s success. Soldiers must treat citizens with respect and communicate their goals via actions and behavior. Even if all personnel have an essential awareness of culture, leaders and units must also access cultural competency.
Navy members routinely teach and learn from one another in the field. Due to this, a few soldiers from each platoon or company might have a tremendous effect on the organization by receiving language or cultural training (Popa, Cojocaru & Toma, 2019). Using cultural expertise, such as “human terrain teams,” in the context of counterinsurgency operations can help forces discriminate between reconcilable and irreconcilable groups. By supporting troops and units in knowing their environment, cultural awareness helps them to conduct warfare ethically. They can utilize this enlarged information to help them determine how to use force discriminatorily and seek alternate conflict methods.
Strong leadership is the common denominator in all these measures to protect the moral integrity of troops and units. Keeping soldiers psychologically ready in the face of complicated situations is a top priority for the commanders. Leaders are given authority and should have faith or confidence in their soldiers (Jennings& Hannah, 2011). Effective communication is essential since when a soldier is on a mission, they have to be aware of the importance of their task and how their leader intends to accomplish this aim. To motivate their troops, senior leaders must set the right tone and provide a consistent message.
Applied ethics education cannot protect troops and units against disintegration caused by combat stress. Challenging, realistic training instills confidence and teamwork and acts as psychological armor against fear and psychological anxiety during combat. The breakdown resulting from battle stress cannot be prevented by ethics instruction in the field. There is a terror in the hearts of soldiers who have never been in combat before. In the counterinsurgency setting, an overreaction that affects innocent bystanders and jeopardizes the counterinsurgent’s aim might result in a passive response. In the event of a combat encounter, soldiers who have only been trained in traditional combat operations may be prone to respond with all of their weapons at their disposal. Counterinsurgency activities, however, may necessitate the unnecessary loss of innocent life, which is not in keeping with the mission. As long as the soldiers are being taught, they should be evaluated not just on their ability to defeat the enemy but also on their ability to defend innocents while using weapons with tact and discernment.
The navy may gain from its attempts to strengthen its moral culture. To do this, they must first ensure that their members recognize that they are, first and foremost, members of their navy force then members of the communities. Be conscious of system expectations and behaviors that may unintentionally promote unethical behavior, such as perceived pressure to cheat (Banerjee, 2019). Their training and education should be utilized to encourage conversation and to learn about ethical concerns. The navy soldiers can be engaged in moral training and education through compliance and competence instruction and knowledge and understanding instruction.
References
Banerjee, A. (2019). Understanding ethical behaviour towards better institutional functioning in the Armed Forces. Journal of Defence Studies, 13(4), 1-22.
Bishop, W. H. (2013). The role of ethics in 21st century organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(3), 635-637.
Haskins, C. (2010). A practical approach to cultural insight. Army Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth KS Military Review. Web.
Jennings, P. L., & Hannah, S. T. (2011). The moralities of obligation and aspiration: Towards a concept of exemplary military ethics and leadership. Military Psychology, 23(5), 550-571.
Popa, C., Cojocaru, C. L., & Toma, A. (2019). Study case on navy cadets’ crew profile regarding diversity management on board training ships. Scientific Bulletin”Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy, 22(2), 101-109.