The Unfinished War: Ethical Challenges in Enhanced Warfighter Reintegration and Long-Term Care.

Abstract

As military institutions explore the use of enhancement technologies to improve combat readiness and operational effectiveness, critical ethical and policy questions emerge about the long-term consequences of these interventions. This paper examines the reintegration challenges facing enhanced veterans-those who undergo cognitive, neurological, genetic, or physiological modifications during service-and explores the military's obligations to support their post-service lives. We analyze how enhancements, though often framed as temporary or mission-specific, may result in lasting changes to cognition, emotion, and identity that complicate veterans' ability to rejoin civilian life. Drawing from military ethics, bioethics, and neuroethics literature, we examine issues of autonomy, informed consent, and structural coercion within the hierarchical nature of military service. We argue that enhancement may not only exacerbate existing barriers to healthcare, employment, and social belonging but also generate novel forms of stigma and challenge existing systems of support. To address these challenges, we recommend policy interventions including the establishment of an enhanced veteran registry, expanded research funding, and the development of tailored long-term care strategies. We conclude that protecting the rights and dignity of enhanced service members requires proactive ethical and institutional planning-before, during, and long after their time in uniform.