As future naval officers we are going to face countless moral dilemmas that will question our loyalties. We are required to be loyal to the mission, our people, both our subordinates and our superiors, and our personal honor and integrity. However, many times we cannot remain loyal to all three, and we will shape the culture of our units by what we choose to remain loyal to when we must decide. In this scenario when a chief asks you to gun deck a maintenance sheet so that the squadron commodore will not scold your captain, you must decide which of the three you will remain loyal to. While arguments can be made for both signing and not signing the maintenance board, one must examine this from a utilitarian perspective in order to make a decision.…show more content… According to the Constitutional Paradigm we are expected to remain loyal to the Constitution, then the mission, then the service, then our ship, then our shipmate, then ourselves. Some officers may believe they need to remain loyal to the captain, a shipmate, so he doesn’t get in trouble. They only look at the short term consequences of failing the inspection. However, they must remain loyal to the ship by considering the long term consequences. They must realize that by gun decking they are fostering a culture in which lying is the norm. In addition, most officers do not consider the power of their signature. My company officer told me in our meeting that my signature has a lot of power. It is my word saying that something gets done. Some officers may consider lying to be done only through their speech, not through their…show more content… The first decision that we as officers must make in this situation is if we prioritize our honor or our convenience the most. This is an easy choice for most people. Almost everybody is more loyal to their honor than to their convenience. However, this decision is complicated by the desire to remain considerate to the experience of the chief and having the courage to stand up to him when he is wrong. It is extremely important to have a good relationship with your chief. They have years of experience in the Navy and will serve as a mentor to you in the fleet. An officer needs to be considerate of the chief when the chief’s experience can provide an answer, but an officer must never become too influenced. An officer must have the courage to stand up to the chief even when it goes against the norm. An officer must be willing to stand alone against something that he believes is
