Chuck Hagel Thinks Brass Can Ethically Do Better

Hagel's parting ethics advice to brass: Do better
USA Today (Tribune News Service)
By Tom Vanden Brook
Published: February 18, 2015

"This is a Nebraskan simply telling people to do better," Hendrix said. "He's calling to their better angels. He's old school."

WASHINGTON — Senior military officers, such as the Navy admirals censured for their role in a bribery scandal, risk discrediting the military when it needs public support more than ever, according to a memo signed by former Defense secretary Chuck Hagel and obtained by USA Today.

The Navy's ongoing "Fat Leonard" scandal involving bribes and prostitutes in exchange for secret information is one example of unethical behavior among senior military leaders that led to Hagel's high-level review of their behavior and the memo he signed Feb. 12.

The memo signed in one of Hagel's last acts on the job warns military brass and senior civilians at the Pentagon that "when senior leaders forfeit this trust through unprofessional, unethical or morally questionable behavior, their actions have an enormously negative effect on the profession."

Hagel's memo avoids specific remedies, suggesting instead general approaches such as emphasizing "senior leader accountability" and the need to keep studying the problem. That likely was done to give his successor, Ashton Carter, who was sworn in Tuesday, flexibility to deal with the issue, said Jerry Hendrix, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and retired Navy captain.

"His last message out the door was not going to be a prescription," Hendrix said. "He's giving a diagnosis to his successors, advice to Ash Carter."
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