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Essay Military Discipline

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Military Discipline

1. General. The word discipline comes from the Latin word disciplīna which means "to instruct". Discipline is a specific form of instruction which develops self-control, character, and efficiency. Military discipline is that mental attitude and state of training which renders obedience instinctive under all conditions. It is founded upon respect for, and loyalty to properly constituted authority. While it is developed primarily by military drill, every feature of military life has its effects on military discipline. It is generally indicated in an individual or unit by smartness of appearance and action; by cleanliness and neatness of dress, equipment, or quarters; by respect for seniors; and by prompt and cheerful …show more content…

Maybe a whole squadron deserted its post. In this case, the court handed down the famous, the ghastly, sentence of decimation. The tribune called the legion on parade and ordered to the front those who were guilty of desertion of their ranks. He reprimanded them, called them every name he could think of. This was not just another sermon. Everyone knew how it was going to end. “Now I want each of you to choose a number,” he told them. And by lot one out of every ten men was chosen to pay the penalty. What penalty? On the tribune’s order, the army fell on these men—their comrades—and clubbed them to death, mercilessly.
The rest of the guilty men were allowed to live, but possibly they thought death was preferable to the humiliation they had to suffer then. They were told to quarter themselves outside the camp walls, where they were unprotected; and they were given rations of barley—horse food—rather than wheat for sustenance. Their disgrace would live as long as they did. “But it isn’t only your severe punishments that produce right conduct,” Polybius told the Romans. “That alone wouldn’t make men brave. You encourage them to act heroically by holding out all kinds of rewards and incentives.” A soldier who

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