articles of war 1775 style (Read 638 times)

If the Articles of War used by the Continental Army were in effect now, well, there would be a pretty small military.

I wonder how many of us would have stood trial for offenses, or what was taken as an offense?

The Articles dealing with profanity would have sunk us all at one time or another.

Like every army, I'm sure there were those who took advantage of the Articles to punish those they didn't like, or who were a threat to them.

Jim Too

:god_bless_usa

I read a large number of fiction and non-fiction books about the military campaigns and actions of the past.

Many of them deal with England, and the British Navy.

During the Napoleonic Wars, serving on a Man-of-War, was a very dangerous life.

Not only the normal dangers inherent with large sailing ships, and the battles they fought in, but from the system.

The captain of a ship, no matter how small or large, was "god" on his ship.

He could mete out punishment as he saw fit, for anything he took to be offensive.

Some captains, and officers under him, were quite sadistic, and/or dictatorial.

There are annals of ships meting out punishment every day, usually flogging by the bosun, or an another appointed officer.

There were many men hung at the highest yardarm over the years, for any number of offenses.

The captain determined if an offense was a hanging offense.

Swearing at an office could be considered mutiny, hang him.

Buggery/Sodomy, was a hanging offense.

There was a long list, and it was not consistent from ship to ship.

The British Army was much the same, although death sentences usually had to go a bit up the chain of command.

The British system pretty-well carried in to our early military.

Some militaries, like Russia, were even more brutal.

In those days there was no draft.

Men and boys were pulled from the fields, their homes or off the streets, by press gangs, to fill slots.

Those of us who served under our military system of justice can be very thankful for it.

We certainly had punishments, but an Article 15, and extra duty, was a whole lot better than flogging, or running a gauntlet of rifle butts being aimed at you.

I believe the system that many of us served under, in the Fifties and Sixties, was about as fair as they got.

I know the system wasn't perfect, none are, and some got unfair punishment, but it worked.

Because people were involved, there were always those who took things as attacks on them, and not the system, and dealt out punishment because they were offended.

To-day, you lose your career for things that used to be just a part of what we did.

Let alone, getting a chest full of medals, like the ones in Cracker Jack boxes, for getting your uniform on right. Or whatever they mean.

Maybe I, and some others are Troglodytes, prefer the "old" ways, but as has been stated, I don't think I would last a day, with the current system, before they sent me packing.

Jim Too

Wow, this is interesting.

The only rules I remember was what the AC told us in a preflight briefing for Blind Bat missions over Laos & Cambodia:

1- If I tell you to abandon ship the ass in your face will be mine.

2- If the SAR team comes after you and you forget your code word, recite every cuss word you ever knew... nobody can cuss like a US Military man.

3- If your capture is emminent, swallow your compass. In a few days your will recover your key to escape.

4- Don't use your side arm until the enemy is in your face, otherwise you'll probably miss him and that will just piss him off and they have rifles.

5- While we are doing AAA evasive manuvers at 10,000 feet in total darkness with the doors open, don't puke anywhere but the trash cans lashed to the floor - the crew chief is flying with us and he is armed.

Small wonder I only flew two missions while at Ubon - these air crews flew every day in the Blind Bats and Spectres - God bless them all. We almost lost a couple of crews while there. Thankfully the bullet holes were easy to fix.

Pat P.

:us_flag

That Slim Pickens is a hoot! I enjoyed him in Dr. Strangelove when he was inventorying the emergency survival kit on board the B-52 and later when he rode the A-Bomb down trying to unjam the release rack.

Pat P.
:2thumbsup