At an ethics course I recently attended, the instructor posed the question: Has the ethics program become too much of a program that belongs to lawyers rather than leaders? Have we shifted from looking at ethics as a tool leaders can use to enhance the culture of their commands to looking at it as a legal requirement — something that simply must pass muster with the legal department?
In the last several years we have seen an unusual amount of general officer misconduct. According to USA Today, over 15 general officers have been disciplined for unethical behavior since 2010. The long list of misconduct includes taking lavish trips at the government’s expense, extramarital affairs, sexual assaults, accepting bribes of gifts and prostitutes, creating a toxic atmosphere/berating subordinates, binge drinking at a nu-clear conference and passing counterfeit poker chips in a casino, among others.
As a result of this rash of unethical behavior at the highest levels, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ordered expanded ethics training. Because of this initiative, JAGs will be providing an increased amount of ethics training to our commands. However, while asking your JAG about questionable behavior is always a great idea (please do!), most of the scandals mentioned above could not have been solved by increased ethics train-ing. The officers above did not need to consult with their JAGs to know whether accepting bribes, assaulting others, or pass-ing counterfeit poker chips was acceptable. They knew it was wrong.
The fact is that a culture of ethical behavior starts from the top down. It starts when leaders at every level demand ownership of the ethics program by emphasizing it, living it, and demanding ethical behavior from themselves and others. As lawyers, we stand ready to assist.