Sir Winston Churchill is known to have remarked that “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” That timeless mindset of deception has proven effective at enabling militaries to surprise adversaries on the battlefield throughout the history of human warfare. But when such tactics carry over into how the military communicates with citizens, ethical lines have clearly been crossed. This undermines the military officer’s oath of office and sows distrust among the public that the military is supposed to serve. Such a case is presently before us.

A recent report in the New York Times revealed that the pilot of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter that knocked American Airlines flight 5342 from the sky in January made several errors. The pilot ignored a warning to change direction and collided with the plane, killing everyone on both aircraft. This information was not released by the U.S. Army nor the Department of Defense, even though the official policy of both is maximum disclosure, minimum delay. But in this and countless other cases, the military’s actions are hostile to official DoD policies.

The Army took unprecedented actions to delay releasing the pilot’s identity, as all traces of her online persona were wiped from the web. Once the public learned that former Biden White House aide U.S. Army Capt. Rebecca Lobach piloted the helicopter on that tragic night, they had virtually nothing to use to evaluate her. We were assured she was a stellar soldier, but we have heard nothing from those who served alongside her.

Was Lobach allowed multiple retry attempts for repeatedly failing required check rides? Was her entire unit threatened not to speak with the press? We don’t know. But I do know from 20 years of experience as a military public affairs officer that there is ample precedent for commanders breaking regulations by ordering troops not to talk with the media. This often happens when there is a chance that the truth would be embarrassing to the military, or when a senior officer lied and the force feels it’s better to perpetuate that lie than to come clean.