Ethos at Sea

Abstract

A study of writing in the United States Navy indicates the wide usefulness of the rhetorical concept of ethos. Although almost never formally taught, the concept is continually being rediscovered and applied within a wide variety of naval contexts, from naval personnel evaluations to ship- repair reports. But ethos is still too seldom consciously present or habitually applied in the naval profession. And, as the Tailhook episode has recently demonstrated, a lack of such understanding can sometimes have adverse effects on the credibility of the Navy as a whole.