Trading Bars For Stripes

[ratetankmark]

I used a TV Tropes quote for the title, I believe that the idea of sending criminals (who aren't mass murders or rapists or anything that will cause them to endanger civilians) to fight in a war (ala The French Foreign Legion) is great because it would cause the jails to become less crowded (which in England is a problem) and it will also mean that soldiers won't have to risk their lives, if it worked for the French it should work for us, and all the commanding officers have to do to encourage the criminals not to make a run for it is say something along the lines of "If you make any false move we'll send you back to prison"

They serve maybe 5 to 10 years on the front line and they when they come back they get let off free, however if they commit another crime when they're free then they'll get thrown back into jail and have to start the original sentence before the offer to go and fight came along plus the time added on for whatever they did to get thrown back in jail, which is incentive for them not to go back to crime.

[Deleted]

It worked a lot better in Antiquity and the Middle Ages when there weren't a bunch of laws regarding what you could and couldn't do with your soldiers (or those of other states and realms), and discipline and training were less important. The biggest issue wasn't their disposition, it was their morale and training. In a pitched battle, pressed soldiers and irregulars usually dissolved as soon as the fighting started so they weren't much use in an actual fight. They were usually used in support roles (galley crews, miners, sappers, etc.) because their raw muscle was as good as anyone else's. Conditions were usually very poor for such personnel, but since there was no law requiring equitable treatment, it didn't really matter.

["Cane Dewey" Johnson]

The Running Man is the more likely scenario for future prisoners.

[Reflecto]

Dec 30, 2013 15:37:30 GMT -5 "Cane Dewey" Johnson said:

The Running Man is the more likely scenario for future prisoners.

This, modified: Honestly, given how people now know about CTE and they're losing the moms quickly, I believe the way of the future will probably be "prisoners in each city's area will be given a choice: Go to jail or play pro football."

[Glitch]

The French Foreign Legion is still a thing?

[SOR]

I'm not sure if you are serious but being apart of the Military or being a Soldier is a very very honorable thing. It's something your country respects and loves you for regardless of your role and if you as a soldier go and fight in a war for us you are looked at as a role model.

Do you want children looking up to convicts as criminals? Do you want the British Military to be tarnished by criminals? Do you want people fighting in wars who don't want to be there? Do you want people of poor mental health in high stress situations? There is so much wrong with what you're suggesting here.

[Red Impact]

Only if a full psychological evaluation was done and the circumstances made it clear that the person wasn't likely to do worse. There are enough disciplinary problems in the military without making something like that a thing.

[Sephiroth]

Actually this isn't an unknown thing today-albeit it is not as common as it once was. I believe if a person of the right age, say 18-20 years old, is arrested on certain non-violent offenses like car theft of burglary, sometimes a judge will give them a choice of either joining the army or going to jail. The idea is that in the army the budding delinquent will be instilled with discipline and possibly learn skills that will allow him to find employment when his service is over, while jail will just offer them a spot in a tiny cell for a while. Not sure if this is still done or not really.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

At first I thought the thread title was trading bras for stripes.

But this really doesn't sound like a great idea when you consider that you are pretty much training criminals to be killers.