Vets - Did you receive any form of POW training

[DS1]

I don't know if this poll has been done before, if it has lock this one and point me to the right area..


I know I got both in classroom lectures, and then practice taking prisoners of war from both the maintaining security and being humane and lawful about it aspects. Searching, identifying, tagging, separating, and transportation to the rear.

[Spentastic]

1. I've never had any training

Additionally, I'm not in the military.

But first on my list of things not to do would probably be shoving my hand up their arses and attaching their genitals to electrodes.

But that may just be that damnable common sense and decency thing.

[DS1]

2. Well, umm, yeah, I agree completly. I'm more curious about the

"insufficient training" angle they're claiming.

[oneighty]

3. Geneva Convention

lectures many times while in service. But I was never in an outfit that would be exposed to watching over POWs. Our minesweeper in Korea once transfered ten or so North Korean prisoners from North Korea to Pusan. They were well treated aboard ship, but had to remain on deck under armed guard.

180

[ihaveaquestion]

4. "Insufficient training" is just an excuse.

The real reasons the soldiers did what they did were probably more complicated.

Combine the interrogators asking for them to "soften up" the prisoners with them thinking they were guarding "rag-heads" and terrorists. Western attitudes that this kind of mental torture isn't real torture because the men weren't being beaten or sliced up don't help the situation.

The Arab world knows that these are foot soldiers and if the leaders aren't punished, there will be hell to pay.

[HawkerHurricane]

5. Navy doesn't get much in POW handling...

after all, the guys we take prisoner are usually pulled out of the water and happy not to be left thier...
And after we patch them up and feed them, we transfer them to somebody with space to take care of them... not a lot of space shipboard for 'passengers'.

[Solly Mack]

6. My husband got training..still gets the training..and drills/tests on

the Geneva Convention as well as the Hague. He also has trained reservists and NG on the Geneva/Hague.

At this point in time, the army is cross training NG artillery/infantry as MP's. They are getting a quick 4 week course in the "how to's" of military policing.


This 4 week course does include a refresher of the Geneva/Hague-originally covered in (everyone's) Basic Training.

NO Reservists left Basic without instructions on the Geneva Convention. Reservists MP's got further instructions at AIT. NG MP's get the same training.


This time last year, this post was swollen with NG and Reservists going through their required pre-deployment training. We are currently swelling again with a new wave of reservists and NG.

The excuse they didn't get training in how to handle EPW's doesn't wash...

MP's get training in how to handle EPW's. While true the MOS for MP and Correction Officer is different...it's MP's (31 Bravo/MOS/Military Police) that work (process) detainment camps during war..and not 31 Charlie (MOS-correction officer)-who work CONUS/Oversea military prisons-such as Leavenworth/Mannheim...and even AG and Camp Bucca IF they are POW camps instead of detainee camps.

I'm curious as to whether or not 31 Charlies are in Bucca or AG. They should be if those imprisoned are listed as EPW's. I'll ask my husband once he wakes up. He's on leave having just returned from Iraq and is catching up on sleep.

Once again, we are back to "are they pow's or enemy combatants?"...By calling them one, instead of the other, different rules apply. None of those rules change the humane treatment of ALL captives under Geneva, however. But thanks to Bush and his "let's call'em enemy combatants"...and deny them certain basic rights...we may end up with a grey area, legally, that allows those committing war crimes to skirt the law. By placing Iraqi's imprisoned in such an iffy category, they give themselves some wiggle room-meaning,... they can deny certain basic rights (to "detainees") that must be given to those labeled POW's (EPW's)

again, the humane treatment of all captives is protected under Geneva-so either way, those soldiers violated Geneva.

And this bullshit that private contractors can't be charged under the (US)federal code for their actions at AG is just that, bullshit. They can be charged.

[Warren Stuart]

7. Of course we did, in Basic Training

It consisted of a 40 minute block of instruction along with a video.

Basically we were told to use our judgement, and if we judged wrong, we would be punished for it. We were encouraged to treat POW's well because they could be very useful.

These soldiers who committed these atrocities were MP's, they took Military Police training, they had to have had instruction on the proper treatment of prisoners. They have no excuse.

We'll see if the system really works or not.

[Bandit]

8. Yes we were taught "The Code of Conduct"

A very large percentage of our time in Basic Training was spent on "The Code of Conduct" It went into great detail how to treat POWs and a lot about the Geneva convention in general. This was in the mid sixties but I don't know what is being taught today. I do know that most in the Bush* Administration never served a day in the military so never had any teaching on "The Code of Conduct" so they do not know how to behave internationally. I believe all this torture comes straight from the top Rummy, Pearle, Wolfawitz, Abrams, etc.

[CatWoman]

9. I can remember talk of the Geneva Convention during basic

and some discussion afterwards.

It was a long time ago.................