Study: Soldiers of All Ranks Engage in 'Dishonesty and Deception'

A recent U.S. Army War College study states "dishonesty and deception" among Armypersonnel is common, often encouraged to maintain a false sense of integrity.

In the study called "Lying to Ourselves," the War College's Strategic Studies Institute interviewed Army personnel from all ranks and found that lies permeate throughout the military institution, whether by civilians or those in uniform.

Officers sometimes face a "suffocating amount" of tasks. Often, they use phrases to make it seem as if they complied to all requirements demanded.

Personnel do this to "sugarcoat the hard reality that in the routine performance of their duties as leaders and commanders, U.S. Army officers often resort to evasion and deception," the study said.

The most highlighted rationalization to partake in dishonesty is that it is often necessary to lie because the task asked of personnel or the reporting required of them is unreasonable, irritating or "dumb."

"I think some expectation of equivocation is accepted on dumb things," one officer said.

Staff officers in the Department of the Army revealed that sometimes reports they receive aren't fully trusted. This means that personnel who request information and those who supply it know that the information is questionable, the study said.

"We don't trust our compliance data," one officer said.

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