• Killing others may be a regrettable necessity in certain circumstances, but it is not the primary purpose of the Armed Forces.

• People who are members of a profession have certain rights that others do not, due to their specialist training and expertise.

• Military personnel, as professionals, have the right to lawfully kill others in certain situations.

• These situations are in the service of the public in order to protect both domestic society and people overseas. 

‘Members of professions are often granted special rights or privileges as a result of their professional status…However, along with these special rights come moral obligations beyond those held by ordinary members of the public…The public service that members of the military perform is obvious, in that they protect the whole of society from external threats…When considering the role military personnel perform, the ability and willingness to harm others in the pursuit of important objectives might well be considered to be a virtue…This often means that what military personnel are ethically required to do will be different from what is required of others in similar situations.’

Stephen Coleman, Military Ethics: an Introduction with Case Studies, (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013), p35-39.