Military Engineering-A Two Edged Sword
Military Engineering-A Two Edged Sword
I feel the issue of engineering for the military is a two-edged-sword. I will share with you some of my personal experience doing engineering work for military applications, which occurred at the very beginning of my career. I spent almost my entire career working on systems and equipment that was procured by and for the military. Some was for the space program, which was not. Some military uses can be for offensive purposes, and this can create a personal dilemma for some.
In my case, here is an example of another side. My first job right out of college was the system engineering and then overseeing the product development by 2 subcontractors of all of the telemetry signal conditioning modules flown onboard each Pershing intermediate ballistic missile during test flight development. These Pershings eventually carried warheads, some I suspect were nuclear. However, the deployed Pershings were installed along the eastern front of Europe, in a defensive-offensive role, and were instrumental in keeping the Russians from attacking Europe, and eventually assisted in leading to the collapse of communism in Russia. There were never any Pershing missiles fired upon Russia or any other adversary in an offensive manner. So was this a good or bad use of my engineering? I believe it was a very good use. This should not be measured by the item itself, but ultimately how it is used. It can be used for good or bad as most things in life can.
Later in my career, I worked on similar missile weapon systems, such as the Titan II and Centaur, which were developed, and deployed but never fired in an offensive manner against an adversary. These were each necessary to create a credible defensive-offensive balance to the real threat of a nuclear attack by Russia on the USA. All moral beliefs support the right of one (the USA) to properly defend themselves against a mortal attack. This, I believe, is a very ethical stance for one to take. To do nothing to defend oneself (and family) would be highly unethical, to my way of viewing this.
Walter L. Elden, P.E. (Ret), IEEE Life Senior Member Advisor to the Online Ethics Center Member Board of Directors, National Institute for Engineering Ethics.