Engineers and engineering educators realize that engineering is a team effort and leadership is inherent to a team's success. Engineering project completion from ideation to implementation requires engineers to provide influence in an often-complicated group of multi-disciplinary professionals. In other words, leading is inherent to success as an engineer. ABET recognizes this reality with student outcome number five where students must demonstrate, "an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives." Because engineering has traditionally not been considered a leadership profession, many engineers and engineering educators may be unfamiliar with, or even averse to leadership principles and processes. One profession that may be a resource for leadership principles and insight is the Profession of Arms, and more specifically, the U.S. Army. Officers and soldiers are often referred to as leaders and as an organization, the Army maintains a high degree of public confidence. Unfortunately, less than one percent of the U.S. population serves in the military and recently, there are concerns that the Army is becoming a family business; many of those serving come from families with a record of service. As a result, engineers and engineering educators may be unfamiliar with or misperceive the principles of leadership within the Army because 1) they have no affiliation with the Army or 2) they have gained a perception of military leadership through what they see in Hollywood.The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of Army leadership through the lens of the United States Military Academy at West Point (West Point). Leadership principles, education, and training are reviewed from guiding doctrinal principles through an institution-level leader development system, and into specific coursework that focuses on leader development. Finally, the paper situates these leadership principles in the capstone design experiences of students: a venue within undergraduate engineering education where leadership is often addressed. The goal of this paper is to make more explicit how leadership works within the Army and West Point, to give engineering educators additional tools and models that they may consider in developing engineering leadership programs and processes within their own institution.

Theoretical basis The authors believe the theoretical foundations for this case study lie in the following two disciplines, primarily, but could be expanded to religion and organizational culture:i. Ethical decision-makingii. Cross-cultural competenceiii. Leadership Research methodology This is an actual case, and the fact pattern and timeline occurred as depicted. The first author is the protagonist, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Shawn Browning. The names of case characters have been disguised. The second and third authors are colleagues of the first author. This case was tested in three undergraduate organizational behavior and leadership classes at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Case overview/synopsis This disguised case follows US Army Officer LTC Shawn Browning, leader of a prominent US Army base located in Germany. As the commander of US Army Garrison Schweinfurt, LTC Browning was responsible for the health and welfare of 10,000 residents, including soldiers, family members and civilian employees. A community member lodged a complaint against a brothel named Haus One (a legal establishment under German law) located adjacent to the base and near family housing and the base elementary school. LTC Browning had the authority to render the brothel off-limits to US personnel, and he took the necessary steps prior to rendering a decision, including the appointment of a review board to investigate the situation and provide a recommendation. The board recommended not placing Haus One off-limits. The case focuses on LTC Browning’s values and his desire to ensure the welfare of his community while adhering to local legal and cultural norms. Cross-cultural and ethical issues surface throughout the case, which concludes with LTC Browning’s pondering of how to make a final decision. Complexity academic level The authors believe this is targeted at undergraduate students with some background in ethical decision-making, organizational culture and cross-cultural competence.

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