Military Review English Edition March-April 2014 | Page 19

DEVELOPING TRUSTWORTHY OFFICERS

Maxwell D. Taylor, superintendent at the time, explicitly confirmed that the mission of the U.S. Military
Academy is to develop character and the personal
attributes essential to an officer.5 West Point did not
officially include character in its mission statement
until 1957—ten years later.6 Today, West Point’s William E. Simon Center for the Professional Military
Ethic articulates and teaches cadets the Army ethic;
at the Air Force Academy this role is fulfilled by the
Center for Character and Leadership Development;
and at Annapolis the Vice Admiral James Stockdale
Center for Ethical Leadership supports this mission.
The academies each have formal programs
designed to develop trustworthy leaders (see for
example USMA Circular 1-101).7 These programs
are designed to educate, train, and inspire cadets and
midshipmen to embrace the professional military
ethic of their service and the armed forces.
Thus, leader and character development occur
within the academic, military, and physical-athletic
programs at each academy (including during extracurricular activities). This developmental concept
recognizes that individuals develop simultaneously
across and within all domains as they complete
the activities inherent within the four-year service
academy experience. Similarly, this concept applies
in ROTC and OCS, notwithstanding that their programs are of different design and duration.
It is in the successful completion of each commissioning source’s programs whereby cadets,
midshipmen, and candidates develop in character, competence, and commitment—becoming
trustworthy commissioned officers. In this light,
three principles must be reflected in the design of
the developmental programs at the academies, in
ROTC, and in OCS:
Character is multidimensional. It is our
true nature: values, virtues, ethics, morals
(conscience), identity, aesthetics, etc.
Character, competence, and commitment
can and must be developed simultaneously—
in the same way and at the same time.
Officership denotes transformational leadership and values-based decision making
(avoiding overemphasis on transactional
leadership, consequences, and rules-based
decision making).8
With this foundation, it is arguable that the
meaning of honor at each academy, as defined by

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