Let us look at each of these in turn. Although the issues of military ethics are very old, it is only when major issues arise in a military, issues that test the institution as a whole, such as the Somalia case in Canada, or the My Lai case in the U.S., that military ethics again comes to the fore. All of these issues are important. They are character traits which are essential in a professional military person of whatever rank, but they are particularly important in those to whom the responsibility of command is given. Of the traits listed, I believe that the most important are courage and integrity.
Integrity is the sum of the whole person.
To do this requires courage, and here I am not speaking of the courage of the battlefield, but rather, the kind of courage that allows you to admit mistakes, the courage Tillich describes in his book, The Courage to Be. Understanding that resignation can be a military duty is basic to our understanding of military law. Emphasis is placed in all our military law upon obedience to a lawful order. Suffice it to say, it is my belief that a true professional has a duty to resign over issues that he or she believes reflect upon their professional integrity. In my own case, I resigned my commission in the U.S. Army over the issue of the bombing of the two major medical centres in Viet Nam during the latter phases of the Viet Nam War.