Volume 27, Issue 3, May - June  2013

The Decline of the Military Ethos and Profession of Arms:
An Argument against Automomous Lethal Engagements

While the exact year is still in doubt, the capability for robotic autonomous lethal engagements will eventually exist and possibly much sooner than many think. Placing worries of Skynet achieving consciousness and bands of Terminators running amok aside, as military science and sociology fuse, we truly find ourselves on the cusp of a "brave new world" in warfare.

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  • Capt Stone 1/10/2012 6:48:17 AM

    Great piece. I did a briefing on a similiar topic back at ASBC and was generally laughed at. I am glad to see someone taking this seriously at the AWC level.

  • Matt 1/10/2012 8:07:00 AM

    Skynet is inevitable and so are autonomous robotics. In a desire to preserve human life and reduce the cost of warfare it is a necessary evil.

  • Ralph Celento 1/10/2012 9:14:53 AM

    Matt, you are on target. Robotics and other advances in technology like Star Trek, Skynet, are in my opinion closure than ever before.

  • SSgt James Porter 2/9/2012 2:50:47 PM

    its great to see a true warrior speak out for his fellow warriors and bring this issue to the forefront. we cannot allow robots to do the job we have volunteered for. It would be the end of humanity.

  • Lt Col Joe Granducci 6/27/2012 3:11:43 AM

    Good paper, but I have one issue with it. You walked your logic back several steps, and made an articulate argument. However, I think there is one more step back to get the whole picture. You touched on it with your M.L.K. quote. The last logical step required to understand WHY automated robots may be immoral is by asking the question as to where the moral authority comes from. Is it a human construct? Or is it a natural/eternal law as Dr. King said? If it is a human construct, then your arguments have merit and can be debated, at that point it becomes a question of degrees. Unfortunat

  • Jeff Jessen 8/31/2012 10:14:27 AM

    A very interesting piece, but in my view moot with the introduction of armed RPVs. With an armed RPV we have already reduced the cost and risk to zero. No additional reduction is achieved by further automation. I have long said that to call a suicide bomber a coward while we kill him with an RPV flown from the safety of a stateside base is the height of absurdity. Like the sniper, submarine, or ballistic missile before, we have already given in; I see no way to go back.

  • Scott 10/1/2012 10:42:11 AM

    A very good paper. Thought provoking. My biggest fear is that the technology will come to control us and we will lose our automomy.