CAC, CGSC and Foundation host 2024 CGSC Military Ethics Symposium

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Chris Hughes, CGSC Foundation chairman and a former CGSC deputy commandant, provides opening remarks for the 2024 CGSC Military Ethics Symposium on April 2, 2024, in Marshall Auditorium of the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth. (photo by Dan Neal/ArmyU Public Affairs)

The United States Army Command and General Staff College along with the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and the CGSC Foundation co-hosted the 2024 Military Ethics Symposium on April 2, 2024 at the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth. The nearly 300 symposium participants included CGSOC students, chaplains from around the Army, as well as civilian academics and others with an interest in military ethics. Chaplain (Col.) Sean Wead, Combined Arms Center Senior Command Chaplain, and Chaplain (Maj.) Josh Grimes, CGSOC Ethics Instructor and Writer, provided direction and support throughout the symposium.

Chaplain (Col.) Sean Wead, Combined Arms Center Senior Command Chaplain, addresses attendees at the 2024 CGSC Military Ethics Symposium and CAC Ethicist Training conducted April 2-3, 2024, in Marshall Auditorium of the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth. (photo by Taylor Wead/CAC Public Affairs)

Members of the 2024 CGSC Military Ethics Symposium keynote response panel provide commentary on April 2, 2024, in Marshall Auditorium of the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth. From left: Keynote Speaker Dr. Pauline Shanks-Kaurin, CGSC Foundation General Hugh Shelton Distinguished Visiting Chair of Ethics Dr. Shannon French, CGSC Foundation Chair Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Chris Hughes, and Providence Executive Editor Dr. Marc LiVecche. (photo by Taylor Wead/CAC Public Affairs)

This year’s theme was “Ethical Character in Modern Warfare: Human and Non-Human in Tension” and featured a keynote address by Dr. Pauline Shanks-Kaurin, the Stockdale Chair and Professor of Professional Military Ethics at the U.S. Naval War College.

Other key speakers included Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Chris Hughes, the CGSC Foundation chairman and a former CGSC deputy commandant, who provided the opening remarks for the symposium entitled “The Army Moral Leader.” Dr. Shannon French, the CGSC Foundation’s General Hugh Shelton Distinguished Visiting Chair of Ethics, followed Hughes with a presentation entitled “The Moral Warrior.” French is also director of the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, and a tenured member of the philosophy department with a secondary appointment in the law school at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Marc LiVecche, the McDonald Distinguished Scholar of Ethics, War, and Public Life from Providence journal, also participated in the symposium.

Keynote speaker Shanks-Kaurin was introduced by Combined Arms Center Commanding General Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle. She spoke on the inclusion of “Ethics of Care” for holistic ethical leadership. The response panel, consisting of Dr. French, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Hughes, and Dr. LiVecche, discussed issues related to ethics of care, empathy, and ethical leadership.

The symposium included special topic breakout sessions, presented by eight presenters, including one CGSOC student. The presenters led discussions on subjects such as the effect of moral character in multi-domain operations, the relationship between AI and the warfighter, considerations for just war theory and praxis, and the ethical norms for the military-civilian relationship.

According to Chaplain (Maj.) Grimes three key themes emerged from the symposium events that will require further study and action in some cases:

1) The need for practical application of normative ethics theories such as Virtue/Character, Consequentialism, Principles-based, and Ethics of Care.

2) The future implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), transhumanism, and the ethical decision-making of military leaders and warfighters.

3) Developing leaders of virtuous character needed to navigate the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) ethical challenges in near-peer existential warfare.

On April 3, Chaplain (Col.) Wead led the Combined Arms Center Ethicist Training Conference with a select group of symposium attendees with CAC ethicist responsibilities.

The CGSC Foundation has provided the resources and support required for the General Hugh Shelton Distinguished Visiting Chair of Ethics, annual ethics symposia and other ethics-related programs for CGSC since 2009.

Visit the 2024 CGSC Military Ethics Symposium Archive page for detailed information from this year’s symposium

Nearly 300 Soldiers and civilians attended the 2024 CGSC Military Ethics Symposium on April 2, 2024, in the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth. Symposium participants included CGSOC students, chaplains from around the Army, as well as civilian academics and others with an interest in military ethics. (photo by Taylor Wead/CAC Public Affairs)