the ends still don't justify the means, even if you're wearing a uniform

Posted by $ winterwind 10 years, 9 months ago to Education
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I'm sorry I can't link to this article, seen in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on 3/22. It's an AP article and I couldn't find it that way either. hmmm.
Anyway, to give you the bare bones....
"An Air Force Inspector General report released Thursday defended the use of secret cadet informants at the Air Force Academy and said it's necessary to ensure that cadets graduate.
.............
The report comes in response to a series of stories in The (Colorado Springs) Gazette in December that revealed how the Air Force employs a system of cadet informants who search out misconduct, wearing wires and using hidden cameras while deceiving their peers, professors and commanders, that some people say violate the cadet honor code where they promise not to lie.
..................................
Brig. Gen. Gregory Lengyel, the Commandant of Cadets, who oversees cadet life, told Air Force investigators that there seemed to be inherent conflict between the informant system and the cadet honor code, which prohibits cadets from lying.
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Deputy Judge Advocate General Steve Lepper, the Air Force's No. 2 lawyer, told investigators the honor code sometimes must be broken.
'There might be something else out there that is so important that it would justify a lie,' he said. 'The security of our nation is one of those things...the safety of your fellow Airmen is one of those things. I don't want drug dealers...to be in my Air Force. And I' not going to let the honor code be something that people can hide behind.'"

I literally couldn't breathe when I read this. The cadets take an oath not to lie [among other things] and then live a life of lies. And the AF lawyer says that some time the honor code must be broken? How far behind this is "My superior officer ordered me to....and I followed that order."? What lessons are really being taught there?


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  • Posted by Zenphamy 10 years, 9 months ago
    I would venture to suppose that those wearing wires, the informants, are headed towards JAG and law enforcement rather than flying airplanes. Law enforcement and JAG don't recognize the importance of an Oath, nor do they recognize the concept of Honor.
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    • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 9 months ago
      I haven't worked with the military at all, but I wish you were wrong. Not recognizing the concept of honor is a serious problem. But the post quotes an JAG dismissing honor.
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