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By Lance Cpl. Daniel Todd
3rd Marine Expeditionary Force Public Affairs
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, OKINAWA, Japan – Dr. Paolo Tripodi, a professor of ethics and leadership at the Command and Staff College, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., conducted ethics briefs for Marine units across Okinawa Feb. 20-25.
One of the briefs he conducted was for officers and staff noncommissioned officers with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, Feb. 21, at the Futenma United Services Organization, where he covered topics such as moral decision making and ethical dilemmas.
"The course covered an extremely important topic and came at an extremely convenient time," said Lt. Col. Dwight Neeley, commanding officer of VMGR-152. "Right now all Marines on Okinawa are taking more time to evaluate their own ethics and how the decisions we make can have major and lasting effects on the host nation in which we reside."
In his class, Tripodi used a case study of the Rwandan genocide, a series of organized murders that took place within the African nation in 1994, to give the Marines an example of ethical dilemmas faced by United Nations forces during their peacekeeping mission in Rwanda. He then asked them what they would do in the situation.
The main issue he brought to the Marines, and encouraged them to really hone in on, is the morality involved in making a decision in an ethical dilemma and how there is not always a right answer.
Dr. Tripodi said he uses the Rwanda example because it is one of the most difficult ethical dilemmas anyone could possibly face and explores that area of ethics between black and white.
"Ethics in military leadership is a very dynamic and sensitive issue, and Dr. Tripodi's class really made that apparent," said 1st Lt. Aaron Harrell, a KC-130 Legacy copilot with VMGR-152. "Making decisions between wrong and right is easy, but making a choice between two bad options, or figuring out the worse of two bad courses of action is very difficult."
Marines attending the brief agreed that the course was well taught and they left with a clear reminder of the challenge of leadership.
"Dr. Tripodi gave one of the most interesting ethics and leadership briefs I have ever attended, because he engaged everyone with discussion topics and is great at facilitating the exchange of ideas in a way to stimulate conversation and at the same time guide the group toward a goal," Harrell said. "I left the course with a great idea of the challenges of leadership, and the discussion about the situation in Rwanda was a great way of showing the difficult decisions we might come across as a leader."
| Date Taken: | 02.29.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 02.29.2008 00:49 |
| Story ID: | 16815 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 40 |
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