Military Review English Edition March-April 2015 | Page 76

(Photo courtesy of U.S. Army)

Pfc. Jeremy Morlock poses with his weapon while sitting next to Staff Sgt. David Bram. Morlock pleaded guilty to three counts of premeditated murder following the killing of three Afghan civilians between January and May 2010 in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Bram was found guilty of seven crimes, including solicitation to commit murder, for his actions related to those murders.

much higher esteem, as we can see from the history of
Henry V of England.
Henry’s actions at the battle of Agincourt,
1415, illustrate a case of choosing victory over
honor. Beset by a superior force of French knights
on French soil, Henry V broke with the medieval
chivalric code to secure victory. After surviving
two waves of French attackers, Henry expected a
third assault that would break his defenses. Fearing
an uprising from the multitude of prisoners he had
captured during the first two waves, he ordered his
knights to kill the prisoners.
After the noble knights refused, Henry turned to
his archers, who stood outside the chivalric system.
More than 200 of his archers began killing the prisoners. Once the French attack did not materialize,
the king rescinded his directive.
Morality was set aside for the practical goal of
victory. Henry, nominally a Christian king, knew
such actions were considered murder, but his actions
were calculated to win the day. His victory was glorified and romanticized by Shakespeare, and Henry’s
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moral lapse faded from memory.18 No doubt Henry’s
actions steeled French resistance to English claims,
which prolonged one of the longest wars in world
history, the Hundred Years War.
For the U.S. Army, to be victorious outside its own
ethic and moral identity would be equal to being defeated from within.19 The Army’s approach to victory
is based on the expected morality of its soldiers, who
represent the American people. If the pursuit of victory
in war can motivate some to set aside moral trappings,
personal survival can be even more powerful. The basic
human instinct for survival is universal.

Survival Over Honor
Combat is a physically and emotionally turbulent
environment where emotional extremes climb and
fall unexpectedly. The reality of death and violence
drives the human condition to its limits. In this atmosphere, physical survival can dominate, driving all other
concerns to a secondary position. Notions of victory,
honor, or obedience to law recede while base kill-or-bekilled instincts emerge.
March-April 2015  MILITARY REVIEW