As the Army continues to evolve in the 21st century, we, as senior non-commissioned officers will continue to be the role models for future generations of soldiers to come. Our ethics and moral values will become that of future generations. But what exactly are ethics? According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the term "Ethics" is best defined for us as a professional military as "4. The rules or standards governing the conduct of the members of a profession." As senior non-commissioned officers, we have a duty to mentor our subordinates in the ways of our profession. As they grew up, their individual ethics and moral values were instilled in them by their environment. Their parents, families, friends and neighbors as well as the cultural region they were brought up in helped shape their ethics and moral values. Then they were brought to us and we must teach them to make the correct choices according to our professional military standards even when it would be easier to bend the rules or take a short cut. This is where our responsibility to guide them to do the right thing comes into play, choosing the proverbial hard right over the easy wrong. Consider the old saying "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound?" and change that to "If you do the right thing and no one is around will anyone know or care?" That is what Ethics is all about, doing the right thing even if no one is around.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.