CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY DAREN BOWYER JUST WAR DOCTRINE

them, and the British approach which was treat all casualties equally regardless of
nationality. 259
Soldiers need pride not just in their own and their colleagues conduct but also in their
mission. Setting out his ‘intent’ General B B Bell, Commanding General USAREUR
noted the importance of a shared belief in ‘the worthiness of the unit’s mission’ in
creating the pride and self belief essential to ‘creating and sustaining good military
units.’ 260 The corollary of this is that doubts about the worthiness of the mission may
begin to damage unit morale and cohesion. In October 2003 the US Army’s newspaper
Stars and Stripes reported concerns over morale of US troops in Iraq. Their own
survey, whilst noting variations particularly between regulars (generally much higher
morale) and reservists/national guardsmen (generally lower), recorded an overall 49%
of surveyed troops describing their unit’s morale as ‘low’ or ‘very low’ compared with
just 16% saying it was ‘high’ or ‘very high’. 261 Whilst noting that local conditions and
services, together with end of tour dates, had a noticeable effect of responses, the survey
highlighted the impact of understanding and believing in the mission. Morale was
highest with soldiers who had a firm understanding of their role, were doing the job for
which they were trained and saw a clear link between their current situation and the
defence of the US. Those, especially reservists/national guardsmen, being used in an
unfamiliar role and lacking such clear sympathy with the mission were far more likely
to declare their own, and their unit’s morale to be low. 262
Not just soldiers pride and morale is at risk if they doubt the validity of their mission but
also their own and their families’ willingness to accept risk and casualties. Nowhere is
more poignantly expressed a soldier’s readiness to lay down his own life for the sake of
a cause he believes morally compelling, than in the famous letter of Sullivan Ballou to
his wife written on the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas:
If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready.
I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am
engaged…… I know how strongly American civilization now leans upon the
triumph of government, and how great a debt we owe those who went before us
through the blood and suffering of the Revolution, and I am willing, perfectly
willing to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government, and
to pay that debt. 263
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