By Robert Johnson
Managing editor
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When one thinks of professional readings for military officers, books by von Clausewitz, Ambrose and even Swinton come to mind, but the officers in the 3rd Chemical Brigade have taken up reading Aristotle, Plato and John
Stuart Mill for professional reading.

It’s all part of a professional development program aimed at the philosophy of ethics, said Dr. Martin Cook, Admiral James Stockdale Chair of Professional Military Ethics at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. The program is designed to expand an officer’s thinking on the ideas and process of ethical leadership.

“Col. (James) Bonner, (3rd Chemical Brigade commander) was a student at the Naval War College last year, and he took the Stockdale Course on Military Ethics. When he took command, he asked me if I would create a version of that same course for his officers in his brigade,” Cook said.

“The course is based on Admiral James Stockdale, the senior prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict who was held and tortured for eight years,” Cook said. “He believed his study of philosophy at Stanford — the Navy sent him there to do something entirely different — was what got him through the prisoner of war experience and particularly the Roman Stoics.”

Roman Stoics is a type of thinking that judges one by their actions, not words and that destructive emotions can lead to errors in judgment.

The officers of the brigade began a series of discussions with reading assignments last year. While most of the sessions were conducted via teleconference, Cook conducted the one on June 8 in person.

“We would have reading assignments, then each participant would write a paper based on the ideas and thoughts behind the readings,” Cook said.

“They (officers from the 3rd Chemical Brigade) have been reading a variety of material during the course, to include Plato, Aristotle and
today, we are taking up the U.S. Constitution and John Stuart Mill on liberty,” Cook said.

After reading, each officer writes a short paper interpreting what they read, Cook said.

“We then spend the next two hours discussing the readings and the philosophy behind the documents,” Cook said.

“I have discovered that many officers have never read the Constitution, and yet they took an oath to protect it,” Cook added.

One of the things that surprises a lot of officers after reading the Constitution is the concerns the founding fathers had for a standing Army. After two years, the Army had to be abolished or renewed by Congress. The Constitution only provides for the Navy and the National Guard or militia, Cook added.

One of the philosophies studied was the balance between personal liberties and the needs of the state, which has been debated for centuries, but takes on new emphasis with current world
conditions.

“We discuss things like the Patriot Act and its impact on the civil liberties we have,” Cook said.

The overall goal is to open up the thinking of the officer and allow them to look at situations and their actions differently, Cook said.

Maj. Sam Jungman, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 58th Transportation Battalion operations officer, agreed.

“These sessions provided me different thinking and readings than I had ever been exposed to in previous coursework,” Jungman said. “Most of the reading assignments were not something I would have picked up to just read by choice.”

“The entire series was very enjoyable. I especially liked reading about the conflict between individual rights versus the state and the obligation each side has to the other. It really opened up my eyes to how society works,” Jungman said.

The sessions concluded with the June 8 discussions, but the officers in the brigade will take with them a better understanding of the philosophies of leadership and the impact those philosophies can have on the individual and the organization, Cook said.