Conscience

A professional soldier was a fool if he second guessed what he did in the heat of the moment. He was twice the fool if he permitted another person to act as his conscience. And he was an absolute idiot if he answered to that conscience.
— Henry Zeybel. Gunship

A soldier’s conscience which recognizes only the order and the exigencies of the moment…
— Michael Hoare. Mercenary

When you have a problem ask yourself two questions. First, can you do anything about it? Second, do you really care? If you can’t honestly answer yes to both questions, screw it.
— Henry Zeybel. Gunship

He’d vowed never to return… His time with the SAS had been one of the most challenging, and exciting, periods of his life, but it had also changed him forever. It was above and beyond being a soldier: the SAS had taught him to kill, and part of that training had been a dehumanizing programme which left him with a cold, hard place where his conscience used to be. It was only after he’d left the Regiment that he’d realized what he’d lost. What they’d taken away from him.
— Stephen Leather. The Long Shot