Learn why military ethics matters

As the military operating environment grows ever more complex and the weapons systems available to combatants become more lethal, so too must the skills and education available to combatants evolve if they are to operate effectively within this environment. Combatants must be equipped not only with expertise in the technical use of their tools, but also with the cognitive skills needed to make ethical evaluations and judgements, often in extreme situations. New types of conflict are raising new ethical challenges for protecting those finding themselves in harm’s way. It is not just soldiers, sailors and aviators that have to make life-and-death decisions or take action in extreme situations – the military medical environment is also increasingly challenging in ethical terms. Who should be picked up by medical evacuation helicopters? Should I withdraw treatment from a child burned in a cooking accident to free up an intensive care bed for a military patient? Should I declare a soldier unfit to deploy because she refuses to take anti-malarials? Should I administer a vaccination that I think is unnecessary? Should I train my medics to operate crew-served machine guns? These are just some of the types of decisions that may face a military healthcare worker that have ethical and legal implications.