The two articles (don't worry, they are short this time) are posted under the LDC group site.  I am wanting people to give personal examples and lessons learned about morale and ethics.  Specifically, does morale really help a unit do better.  Have you ever been in a unit that was utter hell to be a part of, but your rewards (unit citations, etc...) were abundant.  Secondly, what ethical situations have you been a part of in your workplace that caused you to turn a friend in.  Was there flying unsafe? Were they not adhering to proper technical orders and guidance? Were you worried what your friends would say about you if you turned in a friend?

All good questions, and I would like your responses this next week if you have them.  I know that we typically stay away from forum banter here, but I would like some discussion back and forth to see what people really think.  Keep adhering to the academic ROE, but personal examples are nice.

Well, I've been in units that performed well that had both poor and high unit morale. I don't know that there is necessarily a link (when we're not talking about boots-on-the-ground combat units) between performance and morale.

I was part of a maintenance organization that had a long history of outstanding performance -- an unbroken chain of IG Inspection "Excellent" and "Outstanding" ratings as well as many unit citations, etc. -- and the morale was absolutely horrible. We were a geographically separated unit out in the middle of nowhere and had a lot of secrecy surrounding our job. There were lots of family problems, in-fighting between people because of the small size of the unit, and a dislike of several of the supervisors. Yet...when inspection time came around, everyone performed magnificently.

I was also in a flying unit that was part of a major combat operation. The unit started out with very high morale because of the job we were about to do, but very soon that morale turned to crap because of dissatisfaction with many different aspects of the situation we were in. It was a situtation which actually permanently altered my outlook on the USAF, and actually changed me from "company man" into "cynic". Yet, the unit -- and many of the personnel in it -- was highly decorated during and afterward. Everyone performed their job at a very high standard and very skillfully. In the jet, our attitude was mission only...but after we took the G-suits and survival vests off, it was a total bitch-fest around the smoke pit.

Likewise, I have been in units with outstanding esprit-de-corps that were performing miserably.

I've never been an infantry officer, but the ones I know say there is a very important link between unit morale and unit performance. That might be true for those fighting men...but I don't know that it applies directly to those of us in blue.

Forgot to mention...I've never had to "turn a friend in" for not following tech orders or regs. In my community, we are VERY good at policing ourselves. The no-holds-barred debriefs nip any kind of crap like that in the bud VERY quickly. Most guys I've known who showboat or disregard the rules get their beans cracked VERY hard by their peers before they ever have to get shat on by leadership. Occasionally peer pressure doesn't work and you have to tell the bosses...but that's the exception rather than the norm.

I'm not so much worried about people not following technical orders, but doing things that are against the good welfare of the unit. I had a situation in my squadron where adultery was involved, and it got all the way up to the squadron command level. Since I knew both parties, I was called in to fill in some of the details. I was faced with a very tough decision. Should I be honest, or should I skirt around the truth and keep a "friend"? I know we all have those people in our squadrons who we originally thought were friends, but turned out to only be in it for themselves. Needless to say, I chose to be completely honest, and I was shunned by some of the people in my squadron. Was it worth it to maintain the ethics that we want to uphold? Hell yes, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

Hacker, I do think that it is impossible for morale to be high all of the time, but it seems morale has been lost at the expense of the leaders that we have today. I highly recommend the mini-series "Generation Kill", because it explores how morale and key decision making skills affect the dynamics of your unit. In it, there are many young officers, but two of them stick out in my mind. One, they call "Captain America" because he talks a big game, but does not back it up in his actions. Whenever he is faced with real combat, he cowers in fear, and he loses all credibility with his men. The other officer questions every order in his mind, but his subordinate marines can tell how he feels by the look on his face. Some would admire the bravado of the first officer mentioned, while also liking the thinking skills of the other. Bad sides exist with both of them, and they could both be a cancer to the unit as a whole.

I think morale and ethics play a major role in any organization, and I think they are related in dynamic ways. I can only speak to my experience with the aforementioned example of the incident in my squadron. Where I am stationed, it is typical for big screw-ups (incidents, not people) to go unnoticed. The manning plays a major issue as well, and having people not able to pull their duty shifts would cause a strain on everyone else. The end result of this situation was that nothing happened, since adultery is almost impossible to prove, but there was not a rift in the unit. The already low morale plummeted due to this situation and a few other major incidents that happened around the base. It has been in steady decline ever since, and it is a miserable place to work.

Posted By beast05 on 09 Jun 2009 10:45 PM
Needless to say, I chose to be completely honest, and I was shunned by some of the people in my squadron. Was it worth it to maintain the ethics that we want to uphold? Hell yes, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

If you were "called in", that means that you told the leadership what you knew from behind closed doors.   How/why would you be "shunned" for what was said in a private conversation between you and your boss?
 

Posted By beast05 on 09 Jun 2009 10:45 PM

One, they call "Captain America" because he talks a big game, but does not back it up in his actions. Whenever he is faced with real combat, he cowers in fear, and he loses all credibility with his men.

Is this really a "morale" issue?  I don't think so -- the fact of the matter is that NOBODY knows how they are going to react in combat until they've actually been there and experienced it for themselves.  I have seen people exactly like you mention; guys who I thought for sure would be cool as ice under fire, but let their apprehenension get the best of them when it was for real.  Likewise, I have seen guys whom I thought would crumble like a stale cookie be absolutely steely-eyed killers when things were very hairy.

Everyone -- EVERYONE -- is scared in combat, regardless of what bravado they put on from the safety of home station.  I know I was absolutely terrified one night during OIF at all of the AAA and SAMs that were in the air -- like hands shaking, cold sweat, paralyzed-by-fear scared.  What separates the men from the boys is being able to overcome that fear, put on a cool face, and do your job like you've been trained.  I know for me, personally, one of the things that gave me confidence when I was scared was a flight lead who was talking to us on the radio in a tone that sounded just as relaxed as if he was making his "gear down" call at home station -- it was totally calm, totally cool, and just the tone of what he was saying made me think "hey, if he's got it together, I need to, too."

But, the reality is, not everyone has the ability to swallow that fear and do their job.

Posted By beast05 on 09 Jun 2009 10:45 PM

Where I am stationed, it is typical for big screw-ups (incidents, not people) to go unnoticed.

Well, that is too bad -- sounds like a cultural issue more than anything else.  Again, in the fighter world we make a habit of publicly discussing anything that goes wrong (so long as it's not a legal matter that we can't discuss).  If somebody screws up in flight, they always have to stand up in front of their bros and give a "mea culpa" speech where they say what happened and what they did wrong.  We have similar "my bad" speeches for the dudes who do something dumb while driving around, or while at the Club, or what not.

It serves a dual function -- it is a bit of easy punishment for the offender, and it also serves as a warning (and learning point!) for everyone else in the unit.  I think that it's highly effective.

Just as much, I think that NOT discussing problems in the unit is just as counter-productive.

That is one cultural trait I've always acknowledged in the fighter community...honest bark on debriefs. That's the way it should be.

It is interesting how that mentality rubs off on you personally. Over here in the UK, they are culturally not disposed to "call a spade a spade", weather that be with the landlord of my house, or the guy I'm buying a car from, they never seem to want to actually acknowledge that a specific person might have made a specific mistake....and they are very taken aback when doing so specifically.

"If you were "called in", that means that you told the leadership what you knew from behind closed doors. How/why would you be "shunned" for what was said in a private conversation between you and your boss?"

I would agree with you totally, except that my unit is more like a middle school than an actual USAF combat unit. I wish that the debrief mentality that you speak of would resonate in every career field. Call a spade a spade.

X2 on what Nizzle said.