Heroism – Its Entitlements and Responsibilities

This essay appears in the current edition of Naval Special Warfare’s Ethos magazine.  The essay was inspired by discussions I’ve had with colleagues about the challenges SEALs now face, being in the spotlight as the new American heroes and media darlings.  This can be pretty heady stuff with some new and unfamiliar challenges for young men who have been trained primarily for intense combat in remote regions.  The picture to the left is of Tommy Norris, a  SEAL Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam war.  Ethos magazine  is available to the public at http://www.public.navy.mil/nsw/Publications/Issue%2016%20final.pdf

——————————

Heroism comes in many flavors, colors, and contexts, as does courage, from which it springs.  The ‘heroism’ I address in this short essay is the heroism borne of courage and exceptional performance in combat.

A friend recently shared with me that he had overheard a couple of SEAL combat veterans belittling other military members who had not ‘been there, done that’ in the war, implying that they were somehow not worthy.   My friend had the distinct sense that these young SEALS felt that as combat veterans and ‘war heroes,’ they had earned certain ‘entitlements.’  A decorated Vietnam veteran himself, my friend was disturbed by what he heard.

So I began to think about the ‘entitlements’ of heroism. While we can never condone arrogance or ‘hubris’ (excessive pride,) I can understand to a certain degree where these young men were coming from.  They came into the Teams with dreams of becoming war heroes, and after enduring a stringent selection process, years of hard training and sacrifice, followed by multiple deployments into god-forsaken places, and conducting operations in which they risked death or significant injury, it is certainly understandable that they believe they have earned certain entitlements.   And they have.

They have earned, and fully deserve, the respect, appreciation and admiration of the American people, who owe their American way of life to the willingness of men and women to go into harm’s way to protect it. And they have earned the pay, medical and other veteran’s entitlements that are within the contractual agreement that the American people have made to them through our nations laws. And they have earned the right to be proud of having served and sacrificed for a greater good, for their family, community, and nation.

But their entitlements do not extend beyond that. Arrogance is never justified, nor is a sense of superiority over others who may not have had the desire, courage, or opportunity to go into harm’s way in battle.   While the accomplishments of our community may have earned public admiration, we must never demand it. When it does come – as it has in abundance of late – we should accept it with humility and grace.

I’ve found that what real war heroes aspire to most, is not an entitlement, but something that must be earned every day – the respect and admiration of their fellow warriors.  We can’t fool our fellow warriors – they smell a phony in a heart-beat – and they give their admiration only grudgingly.  Whatever we may have done in the past, fellow warriors want to know what we’re doing today, for our shipmates, our team, our country.  Warriors hold each other accountable for continuing to serve, and serve well.  “<Wearing my trident> is a privilege I must earn every day.” (SEAL Ethos).

The public, on the other hand, can be easy to impress – at least in the short term.  The media eagerly gives celebrity status to anyone who happens to catch the public’s attention, for good or for ill, but today’s media darling is frequently tomorrow’s goat.  Like it or not, the media and the public have recently put the spotlinght on us, and want to make Naval Special Warriors into today’s celebrities – war heroes to look up to – and they want to make every guy who has gone through our training a steely-eyed war-hero, epitomizing all that is good in the American male.

This spotlight is uncomfortable, not only for security considerations, but also due to the increased scrutiny and accountability it brings.  “We as a community are not used to operating under such a spotlight,” RADM Pybus recently told the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association- West conference. A few days later, Admiral William McRaven, told the National Defense Industrial Association  Special Operations Low Intensity Conflict convention that sometimes “the spotlight on us actually makes us better,” by making us more accountable.

This ‘spotlight’ holds us accountable for what I call ‘the responsibilities of heroism.’  These responsibilities are simple, but they are not easy.   Honor, courage, quiet professionalism, humility, and exemplary citizenship – essentially, the ideals outlined in the SEAL Ethos.  Once you become a hero, you are always held to account, and expectations are high.

It can be instructive to look at the character of our greatest war heroes.  You will rarely meet people more humble than those who have been awarded the Medal of Honor.  All with whom I’ve spoken are very humble when explaining why they did what they did, how they survived, how many of their friends they lost.  None will claim to be a hero – “I was just doing my job, and somehow was lucky,” they will nearly all say.  They know firsthand the ‘responsibilities of heroism,’ for having borne them for so long.  Army Sgt Sammy Davis, Medal of Honor recipient, speaking about soldiering and life, told me, ”Heroes are those who do their duty, for their brothers-in-arms and God and country first, and then take care of themselves second.”

Becoming a hero isn’t easy; but neither is living in the spotlight as American heroes. For more than 50 years, we have excelled as warriors;  now we must also excel as ‘heroes.’  The respect and admiration that comes with heroism brings with it more responsibilities than entitlements.  True heroes understand this.

Quiet Professionals in Naval Special Warfare

I was asked by NSW Ethos magazine to write an essay on “Quiet Professionalism,” after a spate of books, interviews, articles and the like by SEALS, mostly retired, have appeared in the wake of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.  SEALs are appearing on O’Reilley, Imus, in a new movie (Act of Valor,) and on, and on.   I am also a retired SEAL sharing his opinion about what is happening in the NSW community in the public forum.  I hope that this falls into the ‘helpful’ category.

For the uninitiated, SWCC is Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman – the specially and highly trained ‘Boat Guys’ who are also a key part of NSW.   The Ethos entire magazine is at: http://www.public.navy.mil/nsw/Publications/ETHOS%20ISSUE%2015.pdf  My essay in that issue follows:

—————

For years, Naval Special Warfare (NSW) leaders have sought to instill a low-profile, stay-under-the-radar, “quiet professional” ethos within the NSW community.  And yet, from time to time, SEALs and former SEALs have inadvertently or intentionally brought unwelcomed media coverage to the community, through impromptu interviews, emotional articles or controversial books. In response, NSW Leaders have had to expend political capital in damage control, to shore up the ‘brand,’ of Naval Special Warfare. “Quiet professionals” they say, stay out of the news, except to be acknowledged for their outstanding service.

Military leaders expect our operators – SEALs and SWCCs – to be highly capable and aggressive warriors in combat, and discrete, humble and ‘quiet professionals’ in garrison. The challenge is that most of the men we recruit for SEAL or SWCC training are young, gregarious, aggressive, Alpha males, eager to take on the world. When they finish training, they know they will be sent almost immediately to the far corners of the world, often directly into combat. These men are not by nature, ‘quiet professionals,’ yet most do mature into that role, and come to exemplify the SEAL Ethos: “The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required…We train for war, and fight to win” and yet, “I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions.”

They know that decisions regarding what the public knows about who we are and what we do, are made by those in positions of authority, up the chain of command, all the way to the President. This includes the authority to release classified and other information to the public, for reasons that those in the trenches may not always understand or agree with. This can, and often does, cause frustration. Occasionally, we’ll have active duty warriors go ‘off the reservation’ and voice opinions, frustrations or even classified information in the public or in bars, for which they are appropriately sanctioned.  Alcohol, it seems, is often associated with violations of the SEAL Ethos and the quiet professional demeanor it demands.  For the most part, however, our active duty force understands that compliance with the decisions of superiors is fundamental to good order and discipline in the military. They have come to understand that the confidence military leaders have in NSW depends not only on how well operators carry out their missions in combat, but also on their discipline and ‘quiet professionalism’ at home and in-garrison. Once again, our warriors are guided by the SEAL Ethos: “I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast.”

The issue of retirees and former warriors is a bit more complicated. These are men who generally served as “quiet professionals” while on active duty, but after leaving the service, may feel compelled to share their perspectives and stories in the public forum. Sometimes these perspectives are helpful, sometimes they are not. Short of egregious violations of security, the only sanction the NSW community has against former warriors bringing inappropriate or negative attention to NSW, is against that individual’s personal reputation and status, which ‘the tribe’ always holds as collateral.

I do believe we need former SEALs and SWCCs to contribute to our national conversation by sharing stories and perspectives from their time in service, to help our citizens better understand the NSW community, which exists to serve them. Many of our former warriors have honorably and constructively contributed to the general understanding of who we are and what we do. Some have not been quite so honorable in their contribution. What might distinguish the honorable from the less than honorable?

In determining whether a book, article, interview or other public pronouncement adds to or diminishes the credibility, reputation, and honor of the individual and our community, I suggest three criteria:

1. Is it fair and honest, and does it constructively contribute to the public understanding of NSW? Or does it primarily promote self-interest or a personal agenda?

2. Is the warrior exhibiting ‘a strong dose of humility,’ to include respect toward those with whom he might disagree?

3. Does the perspective or story serve the interests of those still in the arena, or does it make their lives and work more difficult, more complicated, or even more dangerous?

‘Quiet professionals’ in Naval Special Warfare need not always be ‘quiet’ – there are times when it is important and appropriate to tell our story. I don’t believe that the real issue is being ‘quiet,’ but rather having the maturity to be humble and the good judgment to be discrete. Anyone “going public” should be careful of their motives, not hurt those still in the arena, and avoid publicly airing personal agendas. When in doubt, former warriors are well-advised to review what they plan to share with a leader still serving, to get a perspective on how the active-duty community will react and whether their intentions meet the above criteria.

How each of us presents ourselves to the public reflects our personal and professional honor, and reflects on all of us. None of us wants to be ‘voted off the island’ for an emotional or ill-considered sharing of privileged information that comes from being a trusted member of our exclusive ‘tribe.’

The Costs of War

I submitted the below essay to Naval Special Warfare’s ’Ethos’ magazine to be published this month.  I wrote this as a member of the Naval Special Warfare community.

In every generation, there are a few major events which divide our experience into “our lives before, and our lives after.”   The attack on America on September 11, 2001, ten years ago this month, was certainly one of those events.   It was THE defining event for America in the last decades, and it served as a clarion call to America’s Special Operations Forces.  America was under attack.  A small group of terrorists were out to attack Americans, American interests, and America’s friends around the world. This gave our Special Operations Forces focus and purpose; America needed us.  We had been preparing for this for decades.

Since then, we have fought hard, and we have fought well.  We have made a difference, in ways that the American public will only read about in future years, when the reports are declassified and the historians can tell us what really happened.   Recently the public got a glimpse of how good we are, when ‘our boys’ got the big prize of Osama bin Laden, and for a while, we basked in the unfamiliar but warm glow of positive publicity as America’s new heroes.  But the cost of being central to America’s efforts in this war has been high….and it remains high.   The Naval Special Warfare community has lost 69 brothers to enemy action and training accidents since September 11, 2001, which includes SEALs, SWCCs, Techs.  And many, many others have been seriously wounded.

Just as America looks at its recent history in terms of before and after 9-11, the families and loved ones of servicemen and women killed during this conflict divide their lives into a different ‘before and after’  – before the death of their loved one, and after.  And those many who are seriously wounded have their own ‘before and after.’  In June 2005, we could barely imagine the tragedy of losing 11 of our brothers during Operation Redwing.  Now six years later, we have lost double that number in a single incident.   And so once again, the horror and tragedy of war becomes all too real to us.   “Eleven,” or “twenty-two” or “sixty-nine” –  those are big numbers to our small community, but each one of those killed was an individual, a human being, a member of the Naval Special Warfare family, with his own life, dreams, family, hopes and aspirations.   A Naval Special Warfare wife who knew some of those killed in the recent tragedy in August, and who knows many of their families well, recently wrote in a public forum,

 “They were great, brave men, but do not forget that they were men…these extraordinary men loved, hurt, and laughed with the rest of us…. The images that their loved ones will remember …will not be those of them fast roping out of a helo. Rather, the images that will bring both joy and agony in their minds are those of a gentle smile, a goofy laugh, a knowing look… These were Americans hoping what we all hope; that their families will be able to live the best life possible; that opportunity would abound.”

The whole country mourns the loss of these warriors.  We in the Teams mourn the loss of our brothers – men so much like ourselves, men who we knew personally, or if not, men with whom we would have felt right at home.   We struggle to understand the pain of this loss to their families and closest friends.  The heaviest burden of this war has been borne by the families of the service members killed and wounded.  It is a constant, drip, drip, drip of names of good men, our brothers, killed or wounded, with the occasional mega-tragedy, like the one that hit us in August.  It impacts all of us, some certainly more than others.

And yet, men are still volunteering in great numbers.  The costs have been high, the risks remain high, but the Teams are full of men ready and eager to go into the fray, and to train hard and intensely to be ready when called.   Outside the Teams, we have multitudes of men doing all they can to get into our community, so that they too can have the opportunity to train hard to be ready to go with us into combat.   There is something we are doing right that remains extremely attractive to America’s toughest, smartest, most versatile, most resilient warriors.  Tragedy hurts, but it can also bring us together, solidify our sense of purpose, help us to find strength and spiritual resolve, when we know we must carry on and overcome.

As we try to come to terms with the loss of twenty-two of our own, we celebrate how they lived, and what they did.  We celebrate their lives, the way we want our survivors to celebrate our own lives when we pass – to celebrate what have done, and not focus on what we have left undone.  All of us will leave this world with work undone; it is reassuring to know that our families and loved ones at home, and our teammates and the next generation of warriors at work, will pick up where we leave off, and carry on.

I had prepared a different essay for Ethos, about how Naval Special Warfare had changed and evolved since 2001.  A few days before I submitted it, we learned of the tragedy in Afghanistan. That other essay will have to wait for another time.  The loss of these fine men brought home to all of us the costs and sacrifices that our warriors and families have borne since 9-11 – and this recent painful loss is a stern reminder of the horror and tragedy of war.  War is indeed about killing and dying – but it is also about heroism, patriotism, determination, brotherhood, and sacrifice.  We must not forget to celebrate who these men were, and in so doing, celebrate who we are.

“And then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ “Isaiah 6:8-10.8

 

McCain Conference 2010

I attended the McCain Conference held at the Naval Academy April 22 and 23. The theme for this year’s conference was New Warriors and New Weapons: The Ethical Ramifications of Emerging Military Technologies. This conference was a real eye opener – it should be no surprise that technology is not only transforming the business world, but also dramatically transforming the way the military and other national security forces confront their enemies. And just like in business, these technological developments are creating new and often unforeseen ethical challenges.

The conference included a who’s who of thinkers currently involved in the discussion of finding reasonable boundaries and guidelines for the use of new technologies and capabilities. These include the rapidly growing field of robotics and other ‘unmanned’ military vehicles and weapon systems, use of a wide variety of non- and low-lethality weapons, use of human performance enhancements to include drugs and implants, and the growing concerns about cyber-warfare. New technologies are evolving exponentially according to Moore’s law, and leaders are confronting new and unforeseen ethical challenges almost every day.

Dr Peter W. Singer, author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, pointed out that people who manufactured and purchased horseless carriages in 1909 could barely foresee how the automobile would transform human society, and he noted that Bill Gates believes that we are today with robotics where we were with the computer in early 1980′s. The degree to which these technologies will change warfare, business, and the way we live cannot be over-estimated, and the second and third order effects are almost impossible to foresee. The ethical challenges that grow out of these transformations will be significant.

This was a fascinating conference, and it was inspiring and intellectually stimulating to see the degree to which scientists, philosophers, and lawyers are struggling to foresee and keep up with the leadership and ethical challenges that are emerging from the rapid pace of technological change.

To give you an idea of the level of the discussion, in addition to Dr Peter Singer, some of the other conference speakers and books they have recently published include:
Dr Martin Libiki; Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar
Dr Ron Arkin; Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots
Dr Max Mehlman; The Price of Perfection: Individualism and Society in the Era of Biomedical Enhancement
Dr Joel Garreau; Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies – and what it means to be Human
Dr Patrick Lin Ethics of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions and Answers.
David Koplow; Non-Lethal Weapons: The Law and Policy of Revolutionary Technologies for the Miltiary and Law Enforcement
Duncan Hollis; New Tools, New Rules: International Law and Information Operations.