Courage Under Fire

The film â€Å"Courage Under Fire† tackles ethical issues and moral dilemmas. Here an officer during the course of his investigation, searches for the truth in the different accounts regarding a Desert Storm mission while struggling with his own demons. Wildland Fire Leadership Values and Principles espouses three main merits in a leader; Duty, Respect and Integrity. In the film, the characters display such characteristics under different circumstances.Perhaps one of the main principles that can be observed in the film is the choice of the two key characters to choose the difficult right over the easy wrong. Rather than leave their crash site in the middle of night, where darkness will provide them good cover and a good chance to escape safely, Captain Karen Walden did otherwise for the sake of her injured co-pilot. She took into consideration the safety of all the members of her team and tried to save what could be saved. When Monfriez tried to stage a mutiny to push the team to escape, Cpt.Walden asserted herself; demonstrating her prowess as a capable leader, who earlier in the day effectively put to use all their available resources to assemble a make-shift fort to keep them safe and make good use of their ammunition until rescue arrives. As for Colonel Nat Serling, he accepted full responsibility of his actions and their consequences during the attack which took the life of his closest friend. Though there was visible stress after he realized his action, it was brief and he rallied his men to finish the mission.His decisions and his alertness during the event prevented major loss in their part. In the Monfriez’s false account, his description of Capt. Walden was of characters contradictory to those of the values and principles mentioned above. This characterization devoid of notions of integrity, respect and duty produces a person unfit for such a job that required leadership and proficiency. Along with demonstrating the leadership principles and values, the characters also perform actions that they consider fitting in their given situations.To arrive at these actions, they relied on their own capacities rather than waiting for the orders of outside forces; like what Colonel Serling did when he ordered the tanks to turn on their lights to distinguish their own forces from that of the enemies’. Though command was asking him to relay the conditions, he preferred not to focus on the question and proceeded to give orders based on his analysis of the situation. Amidst pressure Capt. Walden stood by her decision, having confidence in her capabilities.Her ability to translate her bravery into actions and also her leadership skills to the men, resorting only to drastic measures when circumstances call for it, display her influence over the people around her. This influence should not be interpreted as something overbearing; the abilities of Walden and Serling to communicate their desires and convince others to do it, suc h as General Hershberg agreeing to extensions and allowing Serling time to explain and Capt. Walden’s command over her troops, are qualities of good and effective leaders.Only when it is abused or used incorrectly does it become overbearing and unbecoming of a good leader. However, the feedback they get as people with position are not the same. A hint of gender bias appears in the film; Walden was the first woman to be awarded a medal already handed to numerous men, such a ruckus was made in the decision to do so stemming from existing ideals that as Eagly et al. states; â€Å"in explicit leadership roles, women tend to be viewed less positively than men (qtd. in Unger 253), and Monfriez weakens Walden’s character by emphasizing on her emotional attributes.While Serling kept on with the mission even though Boylar had died, Walden chose to remain in the site for her injured co-pilot. This might be attributed to differences in leadership due to dispositions but other co ntrasting elements should also be taken into account. While the tank has been confirmed hit, thus its crew dead, Walden’s co-pilot was still alive and as a leader bound by moral duties, Walden chose to stay. Steven Covey in his foreword to Greenleaf, Spears and Covey’s (4) book, wrote that â€Å"†¦the essential quality that sets servant-leaders apart from others is that they live by their conscience- the inward moral sense of what is right and what is wrongâ€Å". Though not directly, the conscience that exists in member-oriented leaders is a factor of moral courage which according to Hildreth (96) â€Å"consists in enduring, through the force of the moral sentiment, those numerous pains which spring from the malevolence of others to whom our conduct gives offence; particularly those pains which we are subject through the sentiment of self-comparison, pains of obloquy, mortification, and disgrace†.Aside from conscience, moral courage is similar to other f acets of ethical leadership such as â€Å"judicious use of incentives, astute ordering of priorities and allocating resources where they count the most† (Greenleaf, Spears and Covey’s 73). Both these values can be observed in the key characters. Courage Under Fire not only showed the bravery of its characters in the field of battle but in the midst of people and their peers as well.It is in this film several embodiments of leadership virtues can be seen and perhaps learned by those who choose to watch this. Courage Under Fire. Dir. Edward Zwick. Perf. Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Matt Damon. 1996. DVD. 20th Century Fox, 2000. Greenleaf, Robert K. , Spears, Larry C. , & Stephen R. Covey. Servant leadership: a journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. 25th ed. New Jersey: Paulist Press.2002. Hildreth, Richard. Theory of Morals: An Inquiry Concerning the Law of Moral Distinctions and the Variations and Contradictions of Ethical Codes . Boston: Published by C. C. Little & J. Brown. 1844. Unger, Rhoda. Handbook of the Psychology of Women and Gender. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. 2004. â€Å"Values and Principles. † fireleadership. gov. 3 June 2009. < http://www. fireleadership. gov/ values_principles. html>