Of Banana Suits and Battle Scars: Why America Needs a Citizen-Soldier Revival
Recently, I participated in a regional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament as one of the assistant coaches of the US Naval Academy’s extracurricular Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team. Due to unforeseen travel restrictions brought on by the government shutdown, I, the 45-year-old Army veteran, ironically ended up being the lone competitor representing the Navy team that day. It […]
Does Terminator Have Rights?
Within contemporary discourse on the ethics of AWS (autonomous weapons systems), one of the most popular in-principle moral arguments against the use of such technologies is the so-called ‘responsibility gap’ argument popularized by philosopher, Rob Sparrow. The argument can be summarized as follows: I have argued elsewhere, and continue to argue, that this argument fails […]
Reflections on Stockdale A Quarter-Century Later
As a newly hired ethics instructor at the Stockdale Center, I think it somewhat appropriate at this moment in time to share some of my thoughts and reflections on the man whom this center is named after, his legacy, and my specific relationship to both. In life, some people, some types of people, dare I […]
Remembering the Primary Mission of Our Academies
The primary mission of America’s service academies is not to mimic Ivy League institutions—it is to produce officers capable of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. While the academies do provide a world-class education in exchange for years of military service—one that is both rigorous and enriching for its recipients—it is both impractical and irresponsible for academy leadership to get these […]