Culture of Lies

[Content Note: References to violence.]

A new study conducted by the US Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute, after former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel raised concerns about military ethics, has found that "U.S. Army officers often resort to 'evasion and deception,' and everyone at the Pentagon knows it. ...In other words, in the routine performance of their duties as leaders and commanders, U.S. Army officers lie."

The 33-page report, compiled following interviews with officers across the Army, concluded that the Army's culture is rife with "dishonesty and deception" at all levels of the institution -- from the most junior members to senior Army officials.

The study's results come after Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel -- who officially left his post Tuesday -- had raised concerns over ethics in the military. Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary, said two weeks ago that Hagel was "deeply troubled" over a spate of ethics investigations in the military.

"I think he's generally concerned that there could be at least at some level a breakdown in ethical behavior and in the demonstration of moral courage," Kirby said of Hagel.

...The study describes a "culture where deceptive information is both accepted and commonplace" and where senior officials don't trust the information and data receive -- such as compliance with certain Army training requirements or forms outlining how a mission was carried out.

But Army officers are faced with an increasing number of requirements and bureaucratic hoops, according to the study, and rather than work with a rigid military brass to reform a burdensome bureaucracy, officers will simply sidestep those requirements, lying on forms and often rationalizing their answers.

The result? "Officers become ethically numb," explains the study... "Eventually, their signature and word become tools to maneuver through the Army bureaucracy rather than symbols of integrity and honesty," the researchers wrote. "This desensitization dilutes the seriousness of an officer's word and allows what should be an ethical decision to fade into just another way the Army does business."

Lying to sidestep the requirements of "a burdensome bureaucracy" is a polite way of describing all manner of ills, especially when that bureaucracy includes "forms outlining how a mission was carried out." That can be much more serious than taking some shortcuts to grease the wheels; lying about how a mission was carried out can mean the first step in a cover-up of war crimes.

And, clearly, a culture of lying is a massive problem for an institution in which sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, hate crimes, and torture have been prominent problems for at least a decade. Dishonesty is wholly incompatible with meaningful accountability.

Especially when that dishonesty is known and accepted. Leaders who fear no consequences have little incentive to address endemic harm, instead of merely concealing it.

Before he left office last week, Hagel wrote a memo to the US military's senior leadership—people who are complicit in this culture of lies—"emphasizing the need for increased accountability and a higher standard for ethical behavior."

"The vast majority of our senior leaders are men and women who have earned the special trust and confidence afforded them by the American people. However, when senior leaders forfeit this trust through unprofessional, unethical, or morally questionable behavior, their actions have an enormously negative effect on the profession," Hagel wrote.

A profession which is continually shielded from scrutiny and criticism by narratives about "the troops" as heroes—and anyone who dares suggest otherwise is traitorous scum.

Maybe, following a scandal that can't be contained, you are allowed to say there are "a few bad apples" in the US military, but never is one allowed to say that there are a lot of problems caused by a number of unethical people among its ranks.

To address this reality is "dishonoring the troops," while dehumanizing them as a monolith of perfect heroes is somehow honoring them. Which, of course, gets it precisely backwards.

Just like the jingoistic nonsense about what constitutes "loving America."

I'm sure Chuck Hagel will catch all kinds of grief in response to this report, as will its authors. But Hagel's concern about a culture of lies, and his fervent desire for the military to do better, his willingness to expect more, is indicative of a profound love of the military and his belief that it can do better.

And that it must.