Military officer says: Stronger leadership needed to tackle rogue soldiers

A senior officer in the defence force says that while specific legislation geared towards tackling rogue elements in the protective services would be welcome, stronger institutional safeguards would be more effective in reducing cases of misconduct in the military.

On Sunday it was reported that National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds drafted legislation for random “integrity testing” to ensure the officers abide by their duties.

Speaking with Newsday on Sunday a military officer says more than additional legislation, internal mechanisms and a more involved leadership would go further in addressing issues of indiscipline and misconduct.

The officer argued that any legislation would deal with issues of criminality among officers at the “back end.”

“You can’t draft legislation to deal with rogue elements in the service per se.

“If people are caught committing crimes the most you can do is introduce stiffer penalties or more robust mechanisms to discourage and deter this sort of activity.”

The officer noted that in addition to strengthened penalties, the leadership of the organisation should also take a more active interest in the well-being of junior officers.

He said understanding the difficulties of certain individual soldiers and working to help them could also go a long way towards preventing minor infractions from escalating to serious misconduct and possible crime.

“There must be consequences for actions.

“Dealing with rogue elements is really about managing human resources.

“If as a senior officer in charge, you are so far divorced and out of touch with the people you are supposed to be leading then you will not understand what is needed to assist these people and prevent them from going down a road of criminality.”

The officer added that while some people join the military as they have intentions of making it a career, others only saw it as a chance to earn a living.

He said people who joined the defence force for “selfish” reasons were usually brought up on disciplinary matters early in their career while they were still in junior ranks.