Australian Army Journal

OPINION
On the Culture of the Australian Army
like one in a prone firing position and be shot accordingly. C’est la guerre. But there
is a line between failing to discern the change of status from active enemy to hors
de combat and murder and we all know it.
That’s why the ‘collateral murder’ video from Iraq was so disturbing. 23
This video recorded an incident that occurred in 2007 and was made public in
2010. Attacking the hostile group in the first place was reasonable enough —
the journalists accompanying them were unfortunate. But later firing on unarmed
people dragging a wounded man from the battlefield was not all right. It might well
have been murder; at the very least it was unchivalrous and dishonourable.
For the best words on modern military chivalry I know, recall Lieutenant Colonel
Collins’ speech to the Royal Irish Regiment battlegroup just before their attack into
Iraq in 2003:
It is a big step to take another human life. It is not to be done lightly. I know
of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. I can assure you
they live with the mark of Cain upon them. 24
He was equally clear on other matters of honour, ordering his soldiers to treat their
fallen foes’ bodies correctly: ‘Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly and
mark their graves.’ 25 But don’t get the wrong impression. That same short speech
continued with ‘As they die, they will know their deeds have brought them to this
place. Show them no pity.’ 26
Obedience matters too. And our people are nothing if not obedient. It may seem
odd to lump obedience in with chivalry and loyalty as part of honour, but I believe
there is a case for linking these ideals.
Honourable soldiers obey their superiors and are proud of doing so. 27 It is one of
the oddest aspects of army service, this pride in obedience. It suggests a strong
desire to abrogate one’s will to a worthy-seeming superior. This is hardly the
position of a free person. Yet the same soldiers who gladly snap to attention and
follow orders with pride are often strong, independent-minded individuals who
would resist any other attempt to dominate them.
Why do we do it? What is so attractive about this position of intellectual
dependence and subordination? Certainly, after a little time to adjust to civilian life,
close obedience to superiors and formal discipline no longer seem attractive to me.
But at the time I was as keen as anybody else. Why?
Australian Army Journal
Culture edition 2013, Volume X, Number 3 Page 231