It seems that two Navy helicopter pilots who took the initiative to help save people from roof tops in New Orleans have been reprimanded by their superior officers.  The two pilots, Lt. David Shand and Lt. Matt Udkow, had delivered supplies to a military installations along the Gulf coast and, as they were heading back to their base, picked up radio calls that helicopters were needed for rescue operations.  They responded and wound up in New Orleans saving Katrina victims.  Later, their commanding officer complained that they should have returned more quickly to continue more logistical flights.  He even transferred one of the pilots from flying to minding misplaced pets! 

     Let’s turn to Confucius and Mencius and ask: should these pilots be reprimanded or congratulated?  And by unanimous decision: they should be congratulated.  In this case they had a clear duty to save people whose lives were in more immediate danger.

     For Confucians, Duty is all about fulfilling social commitments, first and foremost to one’s family but, after that, to society at large.  What matters is attention to human and social needs.  Now, I’m sure that providing logistical support to stranded military posts is an important thing to do, especially when that is an order from superior officers.  But it seems pretty clear that a day’s delay in providing those supplies, which is the ultimate upshot in all of this, was a less dire outcome than the danger faced by the civilian flood victims in New Orleans. 

    I should state here that the two officers did call back to their base, after they had made an initial rescue, to get pr emission to continue plucking people to safety.  They did not disobey any direct orders.  But their commander ultimately felt that their actions distracted them from their primary duty.  And it is in that way that the commander is wrong.

     Duty is not simply a matter of strict obedience to law and command.  It is a matter of judgment.  It depends upon immediate circumstances and social context.  The pilots exercised humane judgment: they were in a position of weigh first hand the moral benefit of saving people’s lives versus the logistical cost of not retuning to their base.  They made the right call and clearly should be congratulated for it.

     So, Congratulations Lt. David Shand and Lt. Matt Udkow!