Military Review English Edition September-October 2013 | Page 73

M I S P L A C E D L O YA LT Y

this conflict is rarely resolved. Behavior economist Dan Ariely in The Upside of Irrationality discussed something called “self-herding”; we make decisions based upon the actions we have taken and the decisions we made in the past—based on our ideas about who we are.10 To consult the high ideals embodied in the Constitution is too hard, and as psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s “law of least effort” observes, “Laziness is built deep into our nature.”11 Too few Americans have read the Constitution, and digested the values and principles expressed, for the power of their oath to override the emotional tie to their ranger-buddy. However, loyalty is not an expression only of emotion. It is also a function of identity. In his Sociology of Loyalty, James Connor wrote, “Our loyalties furnish identity.”12 We are loyal to the things most closely tied to our identity. The problem is that, today, too much of the identity of an Army professional is built around the emotional bond of loyalty between fighting men on the field of battle, until it has power far from the battlefield. While we need that emotional connection for esprit de corps, we also need to step away from it and carefully reinforce an identity that venerates the Constitution.

We are loyal to the things most closely tied to our identity. The problem is that, today, too much of the identity of an Army professional is built around the emotional bond of loyalty between fighting men on the field of battle, until it has power far from the battlefield.
Constructing this identity is a career-long process. Dr. Pauline M. Kaurin delivered a paper at the Joint Services Conference on Professional Ethics in 2006, saying, “Rather than seeing identity as a possession, identity [even for the most senior Army professionals] “is something one is in the process of cultivating, leaving open the possibility of changing, evolving and altering one’s identity in response to either individual or social influences and concerns (or both.)”13
MILITARY REVIEW ? September-October 2013

As Army professionals, we must recognize that the key element of our identity is our sworn oath to support and defend, to bear true faith and allegiance to, the Constitution of the United States of America. Sharing an identity centered on the Constitution builds more expansive ties than the insular, yet tight-knit bonds of combat. Bonds forged to support an ideal rather than forged in shared hardship or firefights allow for an institutional trust that suffers otherwise. As Michael Wheeler wrote for the Air University Review— [This] is a different view of how loyalty can be inspired, in a manner such that the military goal of discipline can be achieved along with the social goal of having soldiers who are also reflective, morally sensitive men. This conception of loyalty is one of loyalty inspired by trust, where that trust resides in the mor ??????????????????????????Q???????????????????????????????A?????????%????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????q????????)?????????????m??t?????????Q???????????????????????????????????????????????????]??????????????????? ??????????1???????????????????????A??????t???^<%]?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????%????????????????????????????????????
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