"We don't think about it's lying, we just think, this is- whatever one does, that's the way you do business," he says. "The whole profession is built on trust and so for me to say, do you guys ever lie? It's like, you gotta be- Why are you asking that?" And then literally add some people put their head in their hands and say, okay, fine, I lie,. But nobody wants to say it, because what we do is we cover it up with euphemisms. Or we offer rationalizations."
Leonard Wong of the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about honesty in the military. Based on a recent co-authored paper, Wong argues that the paperwork and training burden on U.S. military officers requires dishonesty--it is simply impossible to comply with all the requirements. This creates a tension for an institution that prides itself on honesty, trust, and integrity. The conversation closes with suggestions for how the military might reform the compliance and requirement process.