The Code of Conduct at 42: Time for a Middle-Age Check-Up
Abstract
The Code of Conduct was written after the Korean War to respond to U.S. servicemen's perceived failings while Prisoners Of War (POW) in Korean POW camps. The Secretary of Defense believed that a Code of Conduct to guide U.S. POW while in captivity would provide a weapon for U.S. POW to respond to harsh conditions while in captivity. The Code was developed as an aspirational tool, to guide U.S. servicemembers while in captivity, and to counter the perceived Communist threat directed against the United States during the Cold War. As training in the Code has evolved, it is no longer taught to the servicemembers it was intended to protect. It has evolved into highly specialized, compartmentalized training generally only given to pilots and Special Operations Forces. This regime has left the "fighting man" whom the Code was originally intended to protect without adequate tools to deal with a captivity situation, and does not recognize the evolution of the American military's mission since the Code's birth. Therefore, this thesis will perform a middle-aged check-up of the Code's health to determine whether, at age 42, the Code is the vibrant and important training tool that its drafters intended it to be. As part of this check-up, I will propose that the Code be overhauled to face current realities, and that a training regimen be established that focuses on the servicemembers the Code was intended to protect. Secondly, I will propose that the Code's current distinctions between wartime and peacetime captivity be eliminated.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA439853
Entities
People
- Harrold J. Mccracken