Colonel (Col) Michael Steele’s Toxic Principles - 934 Words

Colonel (Col) Michael Steele’s resolute beliefs regarding how to prepare his unit for combat and his bravado demeanor commanded respect from other bemused military officers. While serving as Commanding Officer (CO), 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Col Steele aggressively cultivated a command climate focused on three core principles: personal protection, precision, and lethality. Although these three core principles narrowly aligned with the Armys Soldiers Creed, Col Steele’s principles did not reinforce the Army’s individual and organizational core values. 3rd Brigade’s disassociated ethical subculture fostered a toxic environment which compromised both subordinate commanders and individual soldiers moral standards to various extents. Col Steele’s vague guidance concerning proper ethical behavior during the execution of high stress Counter-Insurgency (COIN) missions resulted in subordinates failing to conduct kinetic operations in accordan ce with established Army ethical standards. The military establishment shall remember May 09, 2006 as the day the revered Rakkasans failed to personify the units motto of Ne Desit Virtus, meaning Let Valor Not Fail. For on this day, four soldiers assigned to Charlie Company, known to the â€Å"Rakkasans† as the Kill Company, murdered eight unarmed Iraqi citizens during Operation Iron Triangle. These four soldiers failed to understand the nature and consequences of their iniquities as they could no longer distinguish