What do you think?
Rate this book
A Tactical Ethic: Moral Conduct in the Insurgent Battlespace
Following the success of his recent book on Navy SEALs in Iraq, The Sheriff of Ramadi, bestselling author and combat veteran Dick Couch now examines the importance of battlefield ethics in effectively combating terrorists without losing the battle for the hearts of the local population. A former SEAL who led one of the only successful POW rescue operations in Vietnam, Couch warns that the mistakes made in Vietnam forty years ago are being repeated in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the stakes are even higher now. His book takes a critical look at the battlefield conduct of U.S. ground-combat units fighting insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since the prize of the fight on the modern battlefield is the people, he warns every death has a consequence. Every killing has both strategic and moral significance for U.S. warriors.
From his unique and qualified perspective, Couch examines the sources and issues that can lead to wrong conduct on the battlefield, and explains how it comes about and what can be done to correct it. He considers the roles of command intent and the official rules of engagement, but his primary focus is on ethical conduct at the squad and platoon level. Tactical ethics, according to the author's definition, is the moral and ethical armor that should accompany every American warrior into battle, and these standards apply to the engaged unit as well as to the individual. A harsh critic of immoral combat tactics, Couch offers realistic measures to correct these potentially devastating errors. He argues that as a nation, we must do all we can to protect our soldiers' humanity, for their sake, so they can return from service with honor, and for our sake as a people and for our standing in the world.
From his unique and qualified perspective, Couch examines the sources and issues that can lead to wrong conduct on the battlefield, and explains how it comes about and what can be done to correct it. He considers the roles of command intent and the official rules of engagement, but his primary focus is on ethical conduct at the squad and platoon level. Tactical ethics, according to the author's definition, is the moral and ethical armor that should accompany every American warrior into battle, and these standards apply to the engaged unit as well as to the individual. A harsh critic of immoral combat tactics, Couch offers realistic measures to correct these potentially devastating errors. He argues that as a nation, we must do all we can to protect our soldiers' humanity, for their sake, so they can return from service with honor, and for our sake as a people and for our standing in the world.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
8 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Dick Couch
34 books159 followersMr. Couch graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1967. He graduated from BUD/S training in Class 45 in 1969. He was a case officer for the CIA.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 20, 2019
Why this book: I lead a volunteer reading group for young men who are early in the pipeline to become SEALs or SWCCs (Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen). We selected this book to read and discuss as it addresses tactical and leadership challenges that are key to the profession they are entering.
Summary in 3 Sentences: The book is focused on the ethical challenges of ground combat forces fighting insurgents on today’s battlefields. He provides background on how the training institutions of the USMC, US Army, and Special Operations ground forces train and prepare their forces for these challenges, and offers advice and perspective on what training methodologies seem to work best, and what is ineffective. He finally gives advice to tactical ground force commanders – at the platoon and company level – on how best to create and sustain a climate in their units that respects their moral and legal obligations to minimize non-combatant casualties, and to respect the human rights of enemy prisoners, wounded, and/or those suspected of supporting them.
My Impressions: A Tactical Ethic is a short book (110 pages) and serves as a primer on ethics on the battlefield, why it is important to fight ethically, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but especially in counter-insurgency, it makes sense. Dick Couch outlines the challenges our military leaders face in training soldiers to respect their ethical and legal obligations when fighting an insurgent enemy who does not follow such rules. Many of these challenges are perennial in the mindsets of soldiers in any conflict in any generation, but they are particularly challenging given that the US has committed to adhering as closely as possible to the traditional Laws of Armed Conflict, as codified in the Geneva Conventions. Dick Couch faced these challenges as a leader of a SEAL platoon in Vietnam, but he also considers how today’s environment is a somewhat different, given that our young warriors have grown up with different influences, in a different era, with different and more lethal tools at their disposal, and indeed, every insurgency is different.
To read the rest of my review, go to: https://bobsbeenreading.wordpress.com...
Summary in 3 Sentences: The book is focused on the ethical challenges of ground combat forces fighting insurgents on today’s battlefields. He provides background on how the training institutions of the USMC, US Army, and Special Operations ground forces train and prepare their forces for these challenges, and offers advice and perspective on what training methodologies seem to work best, and what is ineffective. He finally gives advice to tactical ground force commanders – at the platoon and company level – on how best to create and sustain a climate in their units that respects their moral and legal obligations to minimize non-combatant casualties, and to respect the human rights of enemy prisoners, wounded, and/or those suspected of supporting them.
My Impressions: A Tactical Ethic is a short book (110 pages) and serves as a primer on ethics on the battlefield, why it is important to fight ethically, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but especially in counter-insurgency, it makes sense. Dick Couch outlines the challenges our military leaders face in training soldiers to respect their ethical and legal obligations when fighting an insurgent enemy who does not follow such rules. Many of these challenges are perennial in the mindsets of soldiers in any conflict in any generation, but they are particularly challenging given that the US has committed to adhering as closely as possible to the traditional Laws of Armed Conflict, as codified in the Geneva Conventions. Dick Couch faced these challenges as a leader of a SEAL platoon in Vietnam, but he also considers how today’s environment is a somewhat different, given that our young warriors have grown up with different influences, in a different era, with different and more lethal tools at their disposal, and indeed, every insurgency is different.
To read the rest of my review, go to: https://bobsbeenreading.wordpress.com...
May 15, 2021
I never thought I would read one book because the author of a different book I didn't much care for had some opinions about another author, but here we are. When I read Chris Kyle's American Sniper, I found it disappointing. I am an English teacher by profession, and the book is just not very good. Kyle was not particularly introspective, glossing over what could have been exciting incidents in his life in just a few paragraphs, and not really digging all that deep into much of anything. Good stories are in the details, and Kyle didn't use many. It said something when the most interesting part of the book were a couple pages when Kyle discussed the weapons and gear he carried. That was actually interesting. But that didn't last long.
However, Kyle at one point in his book wrote about a story where he had to listen to a lecture from military ethicist Dick Couch. Couch, a Naval Academy graduate, Navy SEAL, Vietnam War vet, and Medal of Honor winner, spoke to the group that included Chris Kyle about the importance of ethics in combat, and Kyle blew the man's views off as someone who didn't know what he was talking about, even talking to the man privately later to further express his own views on what Couch thought that was totally wrong.
Me? I decided I wanted to see what Dick Couch had to say.
The result is a readable work of how to maintain proper moral combat in uniform, particularly on the battlefield. Couch doesn't come out and say what is and isn't right or wrong for the most part. He works off the assumption that most people know that certain things, even in war, are wrong. Instead, his work is about how to create a moral environment while battling an insurgency. Yes, parts of this book aren't really written for civilians of any kind as it relates to being in a battlespace, it's outdated as it relates to a military environment in Iraq that is no longer the case (though sadly still is in Afghanistan) and there's a chapter where Couch tries to describe what Millennial Americans are like that make him sometimes sound like an old man telling the kids to get off his lawn--and I actually agree with Couch on MMA and reality TV as those aren't my thing--but as military philosophy goes, I felt like I learned something, and that's what counts.
However, Kyle at one point in his book wrote about a story where he had to listen to a lecture from military ethicist Dick Couch. Couch, a Naval Academy graduate, Navy SEAL, Vietnam War vet, and Medal of Honor winner, spoke to the group that included Chris Kyle about the importance of ethics in combat, and Kyle blew the man's views off as someone who didn't know what he was talking about, even talking to the man privately later to further express his own views on what Couch thought that was totally wrong.
Me? I decided I wanted to see what Dick Couch had to say.
The result is a readable work of how to maintain proper moral combat in uniform, particularly on the battlefield. Couch doesn't come out and say what is and isn't right or wrong for the most part. He works off the assumption that most people know that certain things, even in war, are wrong. Instead, his work is about how to create a moral environment while battling an insurgency. Yes, parts of this book aren't really written for civilians of any kind as it relates to being in a battlespace, it's outdated as it relates to a military environment in Iraq that is no longer the case (though sadly still is in Afghanistan) and there's a chapter where Couch tries to describe what Millennial Americans are like that make him sometimes sound like an old man telling the kids to get off his lawn--and I actually agree with Couch on MMA and reality TV as those aren't my thing--but as military philosophy goes, I felt like I learned something, and that's what counts.
June 25, 2024
Couch produced a short book about the importance of ethical conduct. How it's taught, how it's received and how to bridge the gap.
Why I started this book: It was short and in theory, I was going to knock it out quickly...
Why I finished it: Interesting glimpse into the ethical conversations happening in the U.S. military from 2005-2010. Couch highlights how the military teaches ethics to soldiers, sailors and marines... and the difference between what is taught, and what is happening in the field.
Why I started this book: It was short and in theory, I was going to knock it out quickly...
Why I finished it: Interesting glimpse into the ethical conversations happening in the U.S. military from 2005-2010. Couch highlights how the military teaches ethics to soldiers, sailors and marines... and the difference between what is taught, and what is happening in the field.
April 17, 2021
Used by USMC TBS and on the CNO reading list. Quick read with only a few applicable/action item suggestions. Ethical training needs to be continuous with operational units, especially during buildup to deployment. The line that stuck with me the most as applied to the military (and also to the police): Is it the matter of a few bad apples in the barrel, or a barrel that holds a few bad apples?
July 31, 2019
The comparison of SOF to conventional forces is misleading and pedantic.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews