A penal battalion is a military unit consisting of criminals, many of whom may have been offered a chance of a full pardon if they can complete a highly dangerous mission.
2007-07-05 23:30:50 · 8 answers · asked by douglas j 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
Despite the "Dirty Dozen" movies the US military does not use penal battalions. It is possible that an individual might be used but as units that has not been a policy of the US. They were used by the Russians in WW2 frequently and dedication to the attack was ensured by the use of NKVD manned machine guns behind them and threats to their families; these were mostly political prisoners not "common criminals". Gen Zhukov (not sure about the spelling) was released from a gulag where he had been sentenced to life by Stalin and led the Russian Army in order to get a pardon; if he failed his and his family's life was forfeit. Various armies have used this in the past-many Irish in the British Army were sentenced to service, many times on phoney charges, but in the modern military I do not think it is a common practice anywhere. As for morality, that would be a different question and honestly would depend on the situation, are political or low level criminals volunteering for a pardon or being forced into it?
2007-07-06 02:29:54 · answer #1 · answered by GunnyC 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Not only is it immoral it's just really stupid. Most criminals have a "me first ,**** everyone else mentality". Not the kind of person you want beside you in a dangerous situation. A group of soldiers lives and dies by their trust in each other and their ability to work as a cohesive unit.
Also a group of criminals wouldn't have the amount of discipline necessary to serve as effective soldiers. A soldier's life depends on his or her ability to remain focused and pay attention to detail even in the worst possible circumstances.
2007-07-06 07:36:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't either. Hey, lets give you a toxic dose of radiation, and if you live, you get pardoned. Wow. isn't America, and it's people, the greatest! We can always think up new ways to kill people! Or rob them blind!
I am sure the military has enough issues without a battalion of criminals!
2007-07-06 06:48:25 · answer #3 · answered by cantcu 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No. In fact until they are pardoned they are still criminals and the Geneva Conventions (yes, it's plural) stipulate that a soldier may never be billeted with criminals.
2007-07-06 06:40:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
when plaing with the morality, the criminal life is still a human life. thus sending a human life into danger when you can deploy a drone there is an abuse.
no it is nor moral nor tactical to use such lowmorale troops in combat. let them rott in the jail.
2007-07-06 06:49:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They may be used only as "last resort" troops, like in Moscow Battle in 1941.
They were common criminals.
Political prisoners were never released from GULag camps.
BTW, Marshal Zhukov was never imprisoned.
2007-07-06 10:33:56 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
In war when you have meager sources to fight, you fight with anything. It happened in history many times. In second world war many thousands of Russian soldiers fought with very old rifles without much logistic support.Even criminal were used who invaded Germany. Because Russia lost millions in the cold war front.
2007-07-06 06:53:48 · answer #7 · answered by rajan l 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The ethics & morals of such a battallion, will probably be pretty low. & these guys will most likely try to escape ASAP. So it`s a pretty bad idea overall.
2007-07-06 06:49:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋