A521.5.4.RB_HallMike

As was discussed in the book, I completely agree that many companies in today’s world are far from ethical in their practices.  I myself am part of an organization that is probably more unethical than ethical when you use the pillars of an ethical community.  The pillars of trust, loyalty, and solidarity are spoken of within the Navy however in many situations, that is about it.  With that being said, those three pillars are ever present within the submarine community.

First off, trust is probably the most used pillar within the Navy, or at least it is within my community.  As submariners, we trust that everyone on the submarine knows what he (or she now) must do in every situation that could occur on the boat.  It has to be this way or else no one would ever think about going submarines – some situations are so time-sensitive that if 1 or 2 people do not do exactly what they are supposed to do in a timely manner the whole ship could be lost.  To signify trust in the guys on board, we give our warfare pin to those who have earned it.  This lets God and country know that we as a community trust this person with our lives as he as trusted his life in ours.  Additionally, we trust that each of us will always treat each other with mutual respect and friendship.

Loyalty also plays into the submariner’s code and ties directly into trust.  As I mentioned above, submariners must be able to perform their duties when called, and we assume that all submariners will have loyalty to the trust that we have given them.  Further, solidarity is something that we submariners are proud of as is something that spans the gap between other nation’s submarines.  For example, even though we squared off with the Russians during the cold war, and submarines were essentially the front line, now that it is over submariners from both sides meet quite often to discuss sea stories about each other’s experiences.  Additionally, anytime there is a submarine accident, all submariners of the world do what they can to help the downed submarine or to express their condolences.  In the end, I think all 3 pillars of an ethical organization exist within the submarine community which is why we call our community a brotherhood vice any other terminology.

With respect to aligning the ethical pillars to my organization, I think they are already aligned, however I think that this is done more informally than explicitly, which might be a way to improve awareness.  The qualification process goes a long way in teaching new guys what it means to earn your dolphins (the warfare pin), however sometimes some guys need a quick reminder as to why they wear what they wear.  A possible method to ensure this happens is to ensure that all members of the crew are involved in the qualification process of all new guys.  If anything, this will give new guys a more broad understanding of everyone on board, but it will also increase the sense of community within the sub and will remind the older guys what it is all about.