criminals should be allowed into the military

i believe with how stretched out the military is now a days we should consider allowing criminals back into the military it sounds crazy but here is a letter i sent to the department of defense outlining my thoughts on this



i have been thinking seriously about the war in iraq and afghanistan.
it seems to me a lot of people arent as quick to join the military now
because of its unpopularity. with our forces being stretched so much it
is important to keep a flow of fresh troops to reduce combat fatigue
for people that have been there longer so i have an idea i wish to
propose. allow incarcerated and people who are awaiting conviction into the
military on certain conditions conditions like it would be completely
voluntary no compensation would be awarded for serving and that they
would have to serve in a front line role. this would keep some of the more
contributing members of society out of harms way it may sound crazy but
i garuntee there are people who would rather die for their country
then die in a prison. of course certain precautions would need to be taken
such as people would need to be screened intensely to make sure they
weren't planning to desert as soon as they got over there which could be
circumvented by making some people labeled as "escape risks" with a
ankle monitor of some kind. also the money that was going to go to them
if they had enlisted normally could be used to pay restitution or used
completely for the war effort. i hope you will read this and seriously
consider it this isn't about escaping punishment this is about also
helping these people become functioning members of society and
contributing to our country instead of not helping anyone. sincerely yours,
michael call

It's a pretty good idea if they are allowed to volunteer. They would have to be under strict control, though, plus there are the chances of a coup in the troops. I think we can do this, but only for those who are truly willing and have a lesser criminal record.

yes im about to serve a term and i would much rather it be me dying on the frontline then someone with a forseeable future

i Think its horrible that you consider people with criminal backgrounds lesser individuals than those who dont. There are (few) convicts who are innocent and there are those with no record that are guilty. For them to volunteer to serve their country should count for something, not an instant ticket to the front-lines.

If you accept criminals into the military, events like haditha will occur more often.
And, it will become blaringly obvious that your military is drastically over-stretched.

Definitely not in my opinion

The British Army at least is a Proffesional Army and the last thing we need is a bunch of criminals in the ranks alongside genuine hard working soldiers.

You have to win the trust of your colleagues in your platoon and these criminals just wouldnt stand a chance in the British Army and would be outcasts from day one. In a war zone that could topple them over the edge.

I suppose this would be the same for any countrys armed forces providing it was a proffesional force.

I remember having a thief in our ranks and i wont say what happened but he left pretty quickly when found out as he knew what was coming. Armed forces are like familys, Big bands of brothers a criminal wouldnt last 5 mins

Define "Criminal". You have people in jail, awaiting sentencing for some of the dumbest things known to man. Some are not dangerous nor a threat to society but by law they would be required to "do time" So I am curious, just what do you mean by "criminal"?

Bad idea and it seems like a lot more work then what it would be worth in the end. Many crimes are given a lesser status due to lack of evidence or even plea bargaining. To send a potential child molester, murderer, drug dealer into zones where they may further commit these types of crimes would not only hurt innocent people but the American image abroad. To send a drug dealer into Afghanistan or a Pedophile into Iraq where he may come in contact with children would be ridiculous.

To say you would need to "screen" these people would call for a lot of resources and investigation. perhaps if they were caught for one crime but never caught for others could be disasterous.

The original poster of this thread said they were about to serve a term. Do you mean in the armed services or do you mean you were about to go to serve a Prison term? If its the latter then that would account for the idea.






[edit on 9-7-2007 by ThePieMaN]

Manchurian candidate cyborgs who have no chance for parole would make the ultimate weapon. What if we implanted chips in the criminally insane who are lifers and train them to kill the enemy? Then put hordes of them into a C5 airlift properly equipted with weapons that kill people in large quantities and parachute them into extreme trouble areas. Once they land the chips in their head will feed them instructions to kill the enemy. Additionally, if they get shot during the battle and die the chip in their head can detect their deaths and activate the corbormite device implanted in their bodies destroying a square block. Just spitballing here nothing written in blood yet.

[edit on 9-7-2007 by carnival_of_souls2047]

this is why i think if they are allowed in the military they should be in there own platoon/ unit so they can be monitored more easily and so theres no intermingling basically itd be like a extended work release

good idea !

the well known French Foreign Legion was manned by more than a few men on the lam after excaping jail/prison...
those supposed unsavory types, and the supposed 'dregs of society' were
a great source of manpower for their special corps of men-soldiers


wasn't it recently that the movie "The Dirty Dozen' celebrated its 40th anniversary...if your unaware of the theme,
a group of courts martialed men could join in a 'No Return' mission for the Army
or waste away in Jail...some for life or firing squad targets as was their fates.



I see modern 'Dirty Dozen' squads as something practical & feasable, it would take special leadership, but the concept is do-able, imho

[edit on 10-7-2007 by St Udio]

No way!! It will go against every principle of discipline ever learned by a military member. Im talking about the US Military, we are drilled since first day about integrity, trust,excellence and responsabilty.I serve my country voluntarly not to escape jail time and if you already did jail time I dont think you have what it needs to serve.

Is the way it is right now and you still have bad apple in it. And the premise of "lets see what the crime was" could open the door for all kinds of people at the end. The military community is the best community there is, is about trust, how can you want me to live besides a guy that has been a convicted sex offender? or carjacker? or any kind of conviction by that matter.

Serving your country is not a right, is a priviledge!

[edit on 10-7-2007 by Bunch]

[edit on 10-7-2007 by Bunch]

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
If you accept criminals into the military, events like haditha will occur more often.
And, it will become blaringly obvious that your military is drastically over-stretched.

If and I said If it is absolutely necessary that prisoners be forced into the military then they should serve together in like Penal Battalions that would be used as cannon fodder and shot if they try and desert.

Otherwise I say hell no, leave the prisoners in the prisons. If you thought things were bad with draftees in Vietnam and earlier, just wait until you see the breakdown of order and discipline with prisoners. Its not quite as simple as Lee Marvin made it look in "The Dirty Dozen".

What the Hell, we have crooks running the war. Why not the front line? And just think, some of those crooks might make president someday.

Really, we already do that to some extent. With quotas so low, I'm sure some waivers are granted.

And if some twenty year old stole a car for a joyride, and wanted to do three in the Army instead of one in the pen, then that's his second chance. And he stands a lot better chance of learning some useful self discipline in a hardcore unit than the things he'll learn from the gangs that run the penal institutions.

And if he's a first time felon, and in the right age group to join, then he will eventually be back in society, and be in your hometown, no matter if he goes through the Army or through prison. But there's a much higher chance that he will get his act together, get some real pride, in the Army.

Yeah, the idea has a lot of merit. Nobody should pay forever, unless they are on par with John Wayne Gacey.

[edit on 11-7-2007 by NGC2736]

like i said though this would be like a extended work releas in other words you serve on the lines for a while then go back to prison not you serve instead of prison i think that defending your country should be a right you never lose

Originally posted by justanothergangster
like i said though this would be like a extended work releas in other words you serve on the lines for a while then go back to prison not you serve instead of prison i think that defending your country should be a right you never lose

Your right about one thing, I should have said that serving in the military is a priviledge not a right, because you can serve your country in many different ways that does not include military service.

The fact is that many of the jobs in the service require at least a secret clearance and even to get a secret clearance you will not get it if you have any convictions. You need a secret cleareance just to go to any deployed location(like Iraq for example).

Military is about discipline and trust, two things a convicted felon obviously lacks.

If we are going to allow criminals back into the military, then we might as well have a pseudo "running man" kind of option.

The criminals will all be placed in a lottery. the ones that get picked get to do a Schwartzenegger style running man event to try and "gain freedom". All the rest go into the army.

How about that. There has to be some entertainment aspect gleaned from their misery.

Serving in the military is a honor and a privilege, its not a punishment. The world already has zero respect for us, letting criminals fight isn't going to help our image, or the war effort. These people are usually not the type that are going to follow orders or do whats right... again they are criminals and in jail because they dont follow the rules. Now they are plenty of bad people already in the military, I know of a few just from my small area. Criminals are already in the military, but you just want to send Rapists, Murderers and the likes in? It's not going to happen, whoever reads your letter is going to laugh out loud. Get real.

reply to post by ddoT


I agree with you, ddoT.

What is the point of sending criminals to do work that is technically a respectable profession with what is possibly the highest responsibility.

Would you let a criminal become a doctor, whom is in charge of people's lives?

Essentially this is what a soldier is - he protects his country and his country's national image; sending criminals to work for the military is like saying "National image means nothing", which would ultimately result in far more people taking a disliking to the armed forces than they do already.

There is also those whom are already in the military to consider, i sincerely doubt that any self-respecting sergeant would be pleased to have a career criminal, possibly a small-time crack dealer or even a murderer in his unit - it would play havoc with morale and ultimately jeoprodise the integrity of unit cohesion.

The military is not an answer to overflowing prison populations - well... allowing criminals to join the military isn't, but the military could just as easily solve the problem of the rampant over-flowing populations.

Originally posted by Bunch
The military community is the best community there is, is about trust, how can you want me to live besides a guy that has been a convicted sex offender? or carjacker? or any kind of conviction by that matter.

Serving your country is not a right, is a priviledge!

Sex offenders in the military, hell no. However, I would not mind living beside a guy that was a carjacker, hell he may be able to carjack some enemy vehicle for us. Some people may seek the road to redemption. That is no problem to me. I forgive everyone of wrongs. Because we all have wrongs.

[edit on 5-1-2008 by jca2005]