The military also referred to as the disciplined force, is governed by a number of very stringent policies all of which are targeted at improving its efficiency of operations. This is a unique group of very patriotic individuals who voluntarily give up their lives to the defense a country. However, in this daunting task there is the superseding need for close supervision and coordination.
To effectively coordinate the group, there are a number of policies that they must abide by which are communicated in the form of orders which must be complied with. Orders in the military are as a matter of fact never questioned, the policy that an order is more important than the individual communicating it, has instilled the discipline in the officers to enable them to execute their duties without any form of drag whatsoever.
A battalion of soldiers is composed of a number of personnel of different backgrounds under the supervision of a single commander. These soldiers owe their allegiance to their commander and will only follow his or her orders. Their commanders also belong to a league of commanders under the charge of a major.
Several majors in a single barrack or base are also placed under the charge of a major general. In case of a communication, the order follows the laid down passage and only reaches the very lowest member of a battalion through its commander. The commander is respected by members of his battalion and his orders are carried out despite his physical size or any other form of stratification that one may use to categorize him or her.
If this is the case in military camps and in the battle fields, then why do cases of soldiers turning on their commanders and even killing them arise? Utterly, such cases are clear indications that such rules and policies are not very realistic.
It is next to impossible to impose a rule on a fully grown human, the one with the ability to reason and come to realistic conclusions and yet expect him or her to carry out the orders without any resistance or even contemplating about their ramifications. Some of these orders may conflict with the soldiers’ own personal interests, in such instances it becomes hard for one to follow the orders.
During the war in Iraq, a story was carried by the Iraqi papers that an American commander had nearly been killed by his own battalion. The case consisted in the fact that the soldiers had organized a big ambush on some militia, three big armored trucks full of soldiers were sent to patrol around the region with each truck having its own commander.
However, on course to the battle field, a commander who was on the lead never consulted the other commanders in the trucks that were following, they thus got lost and they patrolled the perceived region and went back to the camp without having noticed any sign of a threat.
A minute or two back in the camp, the commander received a fake radio call, the communication system had been hacked into, and immediately ordered his weary soldiers, who had not even eaten anything since morning, back into the truck headed to the region under siege.
The truck full of American soldiers ran straight into an ambush under the watchful eye of their commander. They were shot and most of them nearly got killed surviving with severe bullet wounds. In the fiasco that followed, a soldier placed a short wavelength call that was luckily got picked up by soldiers on the other trucks that were on their way to the camp.
The reinforcement saved these soldiers but opened passage to yet another wrangle. The soldiers were mad with rage at their commander, their nearly slain colleagues and their narrow escape of a possible demise blinded them and in the end they nearly punched to death their commander. The commander was later saved but had to be relieved of his duties and sent back home.
Humans make mistakes; there are increased infiltrations into the communication channels, and lies can easily be propagated by enemies as in the case with the soldiers. Because of full allegiance of soldiers who are willing to lose their lives executing orders on the other, a commander must be very wary of his directives.
The policy to follow without questions must thus be redressed, the lives of the soldiers are very important; the society needs them, and they have families to look after and more importantly their lives to live. There is no justification enough for a life lost out because of negligence.
There are other policies in the barracks, for example, those that try to make life peaceful. Relationships have been determined to bring lots of conflicts among men, infidelity of spouses is discouraged in the barracks, soldiers who opt to stay with their wives in the quarters have their wives counseled and directed on the importance of staying faithful to their husbands.
The soldiers are also directed not to try seducing the wives or girlfriends of their colleagues. Despite such directives, men are prone to temptations and these orders have never been effective enough. The situation can get very murky should a commander desire the wife of a soldier in his battalion or vice versa. The orders he may consequently pass to the solder may not be those representing the interests of the military but his own ones.
Soldiers are trained not to question, but one needs to bear in mind that behind meek attitudes are humans with private lives and interests that may be jeopardized should the orders turn fatal. Waiting to authenticate the source of an order may also delay the operations of the military and have grave consequences. It is, therefore, upon the soldiers to act in a smart way in effecting the orders while giving their lives the very first priority.
Orders that risk the lives of the soldiers should not be implemented; otherwise, they must be accompanied with very detailed and effective communication from higher authorities and in the process of carrying them out more soldiers must be included. An increased number of soldiers help spread the risks involved in executing an order. It is also hard for a commander to risk the lives of a hundred or more soldiers.
This is not to mean that soldiers should question their commanders or even nag at them but they should also be allowed the opportunity to asses the tasks before engaging in them. Observing in order to ensure that a commander is indeed carrying out his orders as he is directed by his majors, may help ascertain the authenticity of an operation thereby saving lives.