William Bainbridge Ethics Papers: In 1994 the commandant of the Sergeants Major Academy, Col Fredrick Van Horn created the William E. Bainbridge Chair of Ethics in the Sergeants Major Course. In reality this amounted to the introduction of a new lesson in the curriculum. The lesson requires each student to write a short paper on some ethical concern. The papers are not long - three or four pages usually. A winner is chosen by a graduated selection process. The faculty advisors recommend papers to a faculty committee. The committee passes on several papers to a judging panel which picks a winner. The winner is announced at the graduation ball as is the Haines Award. Five papers are presented here. The topics are, again, diverse. SGM Daniel E. Hagen argues in Laying the Ethical Foundation that NCO must promote the "ethical climate" in their units through constant ethical training. MSG Keith A. Preston decries The Ethics of the United States Television News Media. He echoes the current standard conservative critique of the media today that it has been dominated by liberals and only recently have the conservatives had a platform for their views in television. MSG Beaver sticks closer to military subjects as he expresses unease over the compromises engendered in the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy toward treatment of homosexuals. MSG Paul E. Coleman, on the other hand, decries inadequate national leadership which has led to ethical lapses by Army personnel in the treatment of "detainees" from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Finally, SGM Philip L. Pierce examines what he considers to be unfair application of "imminent death" procedures for combat casualties. He believes the rules inadvertently discriminate against some survivors because of varying circumstances surrounding a soldier's death in combat.

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