WEST POINT, N.Y. — The U.S. Military Academy is always seeking new ways to enhance a cadet's growth and efficiency. Whether they are engaging in cutting-edge research or applying theoretical combat strategies in training environments, cadets have a wealth of character-building tools at their disposal, all of which are designed to foster their personal and professional development.
However, to develop these tools, instructors must think innovatively and assess the current needs of the Army and other military branches. One such form of instruction is Moral Terrain Coaching, being developed by Maj. Ben Ordiway, an instructor of officership and philosophy at West Point.
This pioneering study aims to understand how Moral Terrain Coaching affects a cadet's moral reasoning, moral humility and willingness to adapt to various conflicts and situations, thereby building awareness of all decisions that lead to an ethical outcome.
“Fundamental to recognizing, reasoning about, and responding to the 'moral terrain' is moral humility: the appreciation of oneself and others' moral strengths and behaviors; a willingness to learn from others, ask for support, reflect and admit mistakes,” Ordiway said. “Therefore, this study focused on measuring the effect of Moral Terrain Coaching on moral humility, self-concept and desire to change — all within a field training environment.”
This year's Cadet Leader Development Training served as the research site, in which Ordiway surveyed two randomly assigned groups of cadets. The cadet test group received Moral Terrain Coaching, while the cadet control group received no instruction.
During CLDT, seniors and juniors enhanced their leadership skills by developing their tactical, leadership and decision-making abilities under stress in real-life training scenarios, providing a fitting proving ground for Ordiway's research.
"The forests are not air-conditioned. You might even say woodland terrain is ideal for conducting this research," Ordiway said. "It can be ideal for seeing how people actually make decisions, especially when the decisions are, ostensibly, low stakes."
As cadets navigated lanes during their field training exercise, platoon mentors — part of USMA faculty — served as lane guides and provided holistic leader evaluations to cadets during CLDT. During the platoon mentor train-up week, they received a 45-minute block of instructions on Moral Terrain Coaching.
Out of 56 platoon mentors supporting Cadet Leader Development Training:
- 42 mentors and their cadet platoons were randomly assigned to the test group and received Moral Terrain Coaching through daily random assignment followed by a survey.
- 14 mentors and their cadet platoons were randomly assigned to the control group and received only the survey through daily random assignment.
For the test group, each platoon mentor held at least two 25-minute Moral Terrain Coaching sessions per shift. The cadets in their platoons administered short surveys at a convenient time within their training schedule. In total, platoon mentors conducted 386 coaching sessions with as many cadets. In contrast, the control group did not participate in Moral Terrain Coaching. Instead, they received surveys following their routine platoon mentor counseling sessions.
Throughout the research phases, liaisons from military and academic institutions visited the training sites to observe cadets as they conducted notional battle movements during combat training exercises.
The visitors that attended included:
- Army Futures Command
- AFC Futures and Concepts Center Capabilities Development & Integration Directorate
- Combat Capabilities Development Command
- 75th Innovation Command
- U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center & School
- Air Force Special Operations Command
- West Point’s Senior Chaplain
- West Point’s Integrated Prevention Advisory Group
- Association of the United States Army Center for Leadership
- Duke University
Col. Francisco Pena, director of Manpower and Personnel at U.S. Special Operations Command also attended to assist in developing a human capital strategy for his organization.
One of the sub-programs they sought to implement was a Moral Terrain Center of Excellence in the Joint Special Operations University in Tampa, Florida, so that all special operators could receive this training before they return to command in the field.
"We're looking at it from an applications point of view," Pena said. "So Moral Terrain Coaching trials are directly linked to what Gen. Bryan Fenton, the 13th commander of USSOCOM, is trying to accomplish where people are his number one priority."
While going through a few iterations of the FTX, Pena said that one of the questions he pondered to himself was, "Is this research disruptive in any manner to the training?"
" ... As we witnessed cadets perform throughout CLDT, I observed that it is not disruptive to the training," Pena said. "It is really an aspect of warfighting that can be incorporated into normal training and the [after action review] process, afterward. So, in terms of implementation, that’s a very important distinction."
Adrienne Duke, a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at Duke University and a West Point Class of 2015 graduate, also visited to observe and advise the Moral Terrain Coaching research trial.
"I got to see earlier versions of (Moral Terrain Coaching), while he did his master's in philosophy," Duke said. "I got to see the theoretical basis for Moral Terrain Coaching, and how strong a basis it really has in different philosophical and moral issues, and how well researched and well supported and it is."
Duke added that Moral Terrain Coaching is a novel and inventive approach to teaching cadets about the moral complexities behind every fundamental action taken to complete a mission.
"I think what's unique about moral terrain coaching is how integrated it is with the tactical training. It is not a discrete ethics lane so to speak. It's not pulling something out and making it a separate training event about morality or choosing the right action," Duke said. "It's showing how our ethical decision-making is a part of everything that we do."
Following data collection, Ordiway and his research teammates Dr. Elise Dykhuis and Dr. Peter Meindl found that the test group reported significantly higher scores in moral humility and their desire to change — specifically in traits like moral courage, self-control and honesty — compared to the control group.
The data also suggests that Moral Terrain Coaching enhances cadets' self-awareness and motivation to improve their moral character. This coaching could be valuable in leadership training, fostering morally competent and reflective leaders. Further studies with operational military organizations could confirm if these results generalize beyond cadets.
"If we accept that you can be tactically proficient, but not have solid competencies, proficiencies in your own moral reasoning and judgment and courage, that's a problem," Ordiway concluded. "To be sensitive to, reason properly with and to act upon the moral dimensions that are always around us is its own form of competency that we ought to consider fundamental to any other military competency that we might consider like marksmanship, land navigation or leadership."
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