Eagan Chamberlin, Sheena M.2019-09-252019-09-252015-06-1720152199-4137http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/223435For decades, military medicine has been formally used as a tool of strategy, sometimes called a ‘non-lethal weapon’ aimed at “winning hearts and minds.” These missions often operate under larger programs that fall under the categories of humanitarian assistance or civic action. Medically oriented humanitarian assistance missions have become a significant component of contemporary deployments for militaries around the world. In contrast to their civilian analogies (such as Médecins Sans Frontières or International Red Cross and Red Crescent), these military programs are not uniquely medical in their intent and purpose. Rather, military humanitarian assistance missions have clear strategic goals behind their provision of medicine. These missions have been increasingly emphasized within the United States Department of Defense (US DoD) and expanding throughout the militaries of other nations; however, this expansion has occurred with little reflection or critical analysis. This paper brings together a variety of resources and research strategies in an attempt to examine the ethical issues of these missions. Sources are drawn from archival work, primary source material (including official reports, doctrine, and published personal accounts), secondary source analysis, and a collection of oral histories gathered by the author. This paper prioritizes a descriptive approach to ethics: identifying and analyzing the ethical issues and moral dilemmas found in civilian medical assistance missions, and offering concrete solutions. This research specifically aims at recounting the moral realities and complexities of these missions as experienced by participants in an attempt to improve the moral experience of the physician-soldier. Larger normative questions regarding the moral permissibility of instrumentalizing medicine for political purposes, or instrumentalizing medicine in general, are beyond the scope of this paper, and addressed in other research.engWith permission of the license/copyright holdermedical ethicsdilemmamedicinedevelopment ethicshealth ethicsmoral developmentGlobal ethicsPolitical ethicsDevelopment ethicsBioethicsMedical ethicsHealth ethicsArticle