Rhonda Cornum - Perspective of an American Prisoner of War

[jhungary]

Rhonda Cornum - Perspective of an American Prisoner of War

When people started talking about Jessica Lynch, everyone knows she is one of the soldier from the 507th Convoy that was captured during the Iraq War back in 2003. I was at that war at that same time, albeit a different section of the country. But I was there


Not many people ever heard of Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum, even thought Female POW usually garner the spotlight of media attention, Major Cornum, which was her rank back then was a shy flight surgeon whom was captured by Saddam's man 12 years before Jessica Lynch set foot in Iraq. Which was shot down while trying to rescue a downed F-16 Pilot which got shot down at the spot earlier.


Although one should also noted, that Female POW were not limited to both Iraq war, the earliest instance of Female POW goes way back to Joan of Arc (Which was captured by the Brits) to Allies captured some German Women for helping out on AA post. Most likely back when the punishment being dealt with Women were the same as men and back when the rules of war does not matter much whether or not is the PW is a women. Another problem being media was not as free as now, most media are censored during war before Korean war, the true extend of treatment to PW (Male or Female) were not as easy to show then now


So, what it's like to be a Prisoner of War? This article, I would try to use my own experience in SERE and actual Prison to try to bring you some light into the object. And by the end of the article, I will also quote the word written by Rhonda Cornum herself in both her book and seminar to try to give you an insight of being a Female POW.


The state of mind of a POW


Prison, no matter how you see it, is a depressing place. It does not matter if you are in a prison serving time or a Prisoner of War. The same does applies no matter how you ended up in the prison.


The first thing they teach you in SERE is that your "Guard" will try to dehumanize you, bad things gets a lot easier to do when you are just a number. Dehumanization will usually goes with ways to break you down both physically and mentally.


For a POW, the first thing usually come to your mind is how to keep the spirit up. Being in confinement mean you have plenty of time to do absolutely nothing, beside the expecting of some beating that are certainly going to happens, there are absolutely nothing you can look forward to. So the first task is to find something you can count on. So that it will keep your mind occupied.


Contrary to many believe, this is not a good time to think about families, the more you think about them, usually would only make your situation worse. What you want is to try and find something that repeats and something that will help you out passing time.


During Vietnam war, some POW was locked in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" survive by counting the days and hours from the church bell near the Prison Camp. That's one thing to make you preoccupied and the other thing is to let you know how long you have been there. The first reaction to imprisonment is when you lose track on the time, you lost your hope with it. Simply, you will think you were there forever.


Another way to pass the time is to try and communicate with other POW, talking in your cell usually attract a handsome fine in a form of beating, but to know that you are not there alone is virtually the most important thing you need with your imprisonment. Tapping have long been use as a way to communicate between fellow prisoner since Korea. Another way is to sing. That is if you don't mind the beating that usually come with.


Never Lost Hope


During Operation Gothic Serpent, when CWO Mike Durant was captured by the Somalia militia, the 160SOAR send out a bird to circle around the city and keep blaring out "We won't leave you behind" over the microphone. Later CWO Durant would credit this as instrumental to his survival of 11 days as a POW.


Hope is a funny thing, when you look at it in a Prisoner standpoint. Hope can be a double edged sword. It's great to have, but it can also turn into your greatest enemy. When you were imprisoned. Hope is what keep you alive, but at the same time, you keep thinking you will lose hope any given day and when that happened, then it's game over.


And the guards knows that, one thing they are trained for is to try and break you down, by either killing your hope, or worse, pop you up and set you up for a fall. The guard will try to break you down. And one way I personally find very effective is to not break your will directly, it's hurts more if I, as a guard try to break the will of your friends. As I know for a fact, you depend on him, and he depends on you, and once I take out this "Support Network", then you know, you're next.


The problem is, you can only prepare yourselves and there are pretty much nothing you can do if your friend breaks. But then they don't call "Hope" for nothing, you and anyone of the Prisoner have to believe that, it's always stronger if the lot stay together. And well, that's what hope actually is.


The Code


Yes, I know, this is kind of like a cliché, but the code do exist, as a soldier, you always live by the code, and it would not be any different even if you were captured.


The code is the core value of being a Soldier, it will help you and guide you through your imprisonment. It would technically provide you with a moral stand point and also a sense of belonging behind the enemy line. Something you could follow


The Uniformed Code of Conduct for member of the United States Armed Forces was as follow


I. I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.


II. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.


III. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.


IV. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.


V. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause


VI. I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.


Gender Issue and POW


Whenever female POW were capture, most people would have the word "Sexual Assault" in mind. The inconvenience truth is, there are NO gender issue with POW, they all suffer the same (What make you think Male POW weren't Sexually Assaulted?)


The risk are the same, male and female, in fact, if you ask any former Female POW, they would think male usually have it worse than female, well, even the enemy do have people that soft on Women, and according to BG Cornum, sexual assault is not on the top of her worry list, according to her, in her own word. Being raped is an uncomfortable experience, they are unpleasant, but being rape would not kill you, nor will it make you spill the secret your are holding, hence this is not top of her concern.


Problem with Female POW facing is that they were usually be treated as the weakest link within a group of POW. Men tend to have a mind to protect women, which is imprint in the basic psychology, hence it would be a lot easier to break the men down if the captor show to them that they failed in this basic rule.


Another problem associated with female POW would be the need to adjust their live in captivity, same as any female prisoner in any prison, a woman life can be significant altered if some basic hygienic product and/or birth control product were not available during captivity. Problem range from biological rhythm could be altered to pregnancy.


Missing Man Table - Honoring the POW

There are this table in our officer mess, it was the first table in the mess, so it was highly visible even when you are outside the officer mess. This table are always empty and no one would sit in it, nor would there ever be any food on it.


It was quite some time until I realize that particular table is the missing man table. The table, have it origin from honoring and acknowledging service member that went missing in Vietnam were now more than just a ceremony, it represent the core value of being a POW, the loneliness, hardship and the suffering, today, each base have their own ritual on their own missing man table.

Table Ceremony Script - Read during modern military remembrance events paying honors to POW/MIA. Generally the table is being set while the script is read.

• The table that stands before you is a place of honor. In setting this table, we acknowledge those missing from our celebration tonight. And we remember them. (ring bell)
• The table is small, and set for one -- Symbolizing the vulnerability of a lone prisoner against his captors. Remember! (ring bell)
• The tablecloth is white -- Symbolizing purity of intention in responding to the nation's call to arms. Remember! (ring bell)
• The chair is empty, for they are not here. Remember! (ring bell)
• The wine glass is inverted -- They cannot toast with us this night. Remember! (ring bell)
• The slices of lemon -- Reminding us of their bitter suffering. Remember! (ring bell)
• The grains of salt -- Representing the countless tears of the families. Remember! (ring bell)
• The single red rose -- Reminding us of loved ones who keep the faith awaiting their return. Remember! (ring bell)
• The burning candle and yellow ribbon -- Symbolizing everlasting hope of a reunion with the missing. Remember! (ring bell)
• Remember! -- All who have served alongside them; we who have donned the same proud uniform, being sworn to the same faith and allegiance -- We will never forget their sacrifice. Remember! (ring bell)
• Remember! -- Until the day they return home, or find eternal peace, we will remember. (ring bell)

Female POW of the United States Armed Services.

For any US service member who were held captive by the enemy in any amount of time, they are eligible to wear the Prisoner of War medal. Throughout US history, only 5 POW medal were awarded to women for their POW experience. Those 5 are

• Spc. Melissa Rathbun-Nealy - January 31, 1991
• Maj. Rhonda Cornum - February 27, 1991
• Pfc. Lori Piestewa - MIA March 23, 2003 KIA March 23, 2003
• Pfc Jessica Lynch - March 23, 2003
• Spc Shoshana Johnson - March 23, 2003

 

[jhungary]

@Nihonjin1051 @Slav Defence @TankMan @Gufi @Manticore @Oscar @levina @DESERT FIGHTER @Indos @SvenSvensonov @truthseeker2010 @Neptune @Side-Winder @jaibi @KAL-EL @RescueRanger @scorpionx @F-22Raptor @third eye @hinduguy @AMDR @Horus @WebMaster @AMCA @Mugwop
@Davos @Akheilos @MilSpec @Star Wars @xenon54 @forcetrip @Armstrong @Major Sam @indiatester @Koovie @flamer84 @Lonely Hermit @Hakan @AUSTERLITZ

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Nice read... But than again the rules of war .. Geneva treaties went to dustbin in wars even by the countries that wrote them... I'm not saying all soldiers are like that .. In a million or a hundred thousand there are a few bound to pop up..

But my question here is that why do professional militaries themselves deviate from those rules...one can't obviously expect that from groups like IS or TTP (both have been involved in not just crimes against humanity but the most vile forms of torture (like gangrapes etc) against women .... One can as I said before also expect a few assholez commiting crimes ... But how is it that authorised abuses otherwise deemed a war crimes against both men and women ...were committed by US itself ...


Now I can understand and even justify extra judicial killings o enemy combatants ! But heinous crimes like the ones we wins eased in Abu gharib etc ... It's hard to imagine that all of it was happening and the commanding office (CO) didnt have any knowledge of it ... And it dragged on for years without any superior officer finding it out...


And when the did the peeps were released with a small slap on the wrist .... How does US military see or deal with that? Do the rules of war change ? Are US troops brainwashed and told to consider the other party as sub human or un-human ? (Like through those anti islamic courses etc)... Can that be justified ?

Forgive me for going a little off topic.

 

[Levina]

The inconvenience truth is, there are NO gender issue with POW, they all suffer the same (What make you think Male POW weren't Sexually Assaulted?)

I'm not sure if @Oscar remembers a discussion where he had opined that female pilots should not be allowed because they might be violated if captured.
And this (the underlined sentence) is exactly what had crossed my mind that day.

@Nihonjin1051 @Slav Defence @TankMan @Gufi @Manticore @Oscar @levina @DESERT

thanks for the tag.
But i did not receive any notification because only the first 5 members will get the notification.

 

[Neptune]

Thanks for the tag again, what's been capt have you been able to fit yourself back into fight huh!

The thing that attracted me most is below

Yes, I know, this is kind of like a cliché, but the code do exist, as a soldier, you always live by the code, and it would not be any different even if you were captured.

That one I think pretty much sums it up all if I were to describe SERE. In addition,
Before we got our SERE in Izmir (Amphibious Task Group Command), I thought it was just psychically and mentally keeping yourself alive and uncaptured and few more. But after completing it, you see its both more complex and simple than that. On paper it kinda seems like a law or a traffic regulation which is what you described as the Code of Conduct. But it's just a lot more than getting tortured after some classes. On practical if I remember correctly it must have been differed into three levels;

A: Basic
B: Forwardly deployed personnel (pilots, special forces...etc)
C: High-risk capture

But if I carry on I'd have gone too technical and people will get bored, also I'd be off topic. Two of the widely known tactics to break your mentality (as you described), they use on POWs are to hurt your ethical honor and virtue which can have a long list from sexual assaults (M/F doesn't matter) to inhumane violent treatment in which the enemy also aims to make you loose your self-respect not because they think you're animals or all due respect they find you pretty sexy but there are many exceptions for that of course. The other one being breaking the network of support I think this one is most important (at leat for an officer) because if you and a group of friendly units are in the condition of capture or imprison, no matter what we should always keep the chain of command up and running. That is the key element of following the code as a single united unit if there are a group of friendlies under that circumstance above. It doesn't only keeps yourself loyal to the code and remembers you what you've fought for but also it becomes a shield for your personal limits at some sort, by the nature of military. Of course this can go a lot deeper but people should remember that it all ends up for being loyal to the code of conduct just as how its been as active combatants but of course these two are completely two different environments and a lot of stress and disorder is going on but one should remember its an other type of war.

Mike Durant was hell of a warrior by the way. People shouldn't learn about him by Blackhawk Down only.

Now tell the news

 

[Neptune]

Nice read... But than again the rules of war .. Geneva treaties went to dustbin in wars even by the countries that wrote them... I'm not saying all soldiers are like that .. In a million or a hundred thousand there are a few bound to pop up..

Yara first of all remember these;

Not all Geneva Conventions Protocols are the same and not all countries have signatories on all of them. Some are parties for those protocols that others are not.
Secondly, 1949 Convention is signed by nearly all UN member states. But in a juridical matter, the amendments to the conventions what we've known as the Protocols I, II, III can't serve the battlegrounds of 21st century warfare. Rest assured, even if there was no international treaties on war crimes like the Geneva Conventions armed forces of sovereign countries would still have their own code of conduct and regulations for war crimes and military prosecuting agencies that would deal with them. This one's just the part that's on the paper.

But my question here is that why do professional militaries themselves deviate from those rules...one can't obviously expect that from groups like IS or TTP (both have been involved in not just crimes against humanity but the most vile forms of torture (like gangrapes etc) against women .... One can as I said before also expect a few assholez commiting crimes ...

My friend, when was the last time a conventional war or battle has happened? I don't mean conflicts like the skirmishes between India and Pakistan over Keşmir?

Pentagon admits that the era of conventional warfare is over which is what these conventions and protocols have mostly focused on. If what you're talking about events like the peeing vid, as yourself have explained it happens in every country not because whether US or any country is guilty or not, but because that we are humans. These ones are no different than the answer for the question of "Why do we have cops?". The other one being is methods like intended torture and things that are already prohibited on conventions, against POWs, civilians. Well that one today is a bit complicated, this is crime either way for regulations but the accused personnel may be plead guilty of letting emotions to drive him/her or disobeying code of conduct as much as it can solely be for intelligence gathering, battlefield intelligence, countering the enemy's ability to reorganize in the condition of POW.

As you can see because of today's conditions its pretty much complicated.

 

[Psychic]

Yara first of all remember these;




My friend, when was the last time a conventional war or battle has happened? I don't mean conflicts like the skirmishes between India and Pakistan over Keşmir?

Pentagon admits that the era of conventional warfare is over which is what these conventions and protocols have mostly focused on. If what you're talking about events like the peeing vid, as yourself have explained it happens in every country not because whether US or any country is guilty or not, but because that we are humans. These ones are no different than the answer for the question of "Why do we have cops?". The other one being is methods like intended torture and things that are already prohibited on conventions, against POWs, civilians. Well that one today is a bit complicated, this is crime either way for regulations but the accused personnel may be plead guilty of letting emotions to drive him/her or disobeying code of conduct as much as it can solely be for intelligence gathering, battlefield intelligence, countering the enemy's ability to reorganize in the condition of POW.
.

Read his complete post, he was talking about 2003 Iraq war - Operation Iraqi freedom. Was a conventional war otherwise they would never had their own soldiers trailed. What happened there happened en masse and was allowed to be carried on for quite some time until the photos of torture became public. Strangely none of the officers was punished.

 

[jhungary]

Nice read... But than again the rules of war .. Geneva treaties went to dustbin in wars even by the countries that wrote them... I'm not saying all soldiers are like that .. In a million or a hundred thousand there are a few bound to pop up..

But my question here is that why do professional militaries themselves deviate from those rules...one can't obviously expect that from groups like IS or TTP (both have been involved in not just crimes against humanity but the most vile forms of torture (like gangrapes etc) against women .... One can as I said before also expect a few assholez commiting crimes ... But how is it that authorised abuses otherwise deemed a war crimes against both men and women ...were committed by US itself ...


Now I can understand and even justify extra judicial killings o enemy combatants ! But heinous crimes like the ones we wins eased in Abu gharib etc ... It's hard to imagine that all of it was happening and the commanding office (CO) didnt have any knowledge of it ... And it dragged on for years without any superior officer finding it out...


And when the did the peeps were released with a small slap on the wrist .... How does US military see or deal with that? Do the rules of war change ? Are US troops brainwashed and told to consider the other party as sub human or un-human ? (Like through those anti islamic courses etc)... Can that be justified ?

Forgive me for going a little off topic.

No, not at all, in fact someone have ask me exactly what you asked some month ago, I want to answer your question in 2 parts.

This is a good question, why Violating the Geneva Convention still rampant even with militaries with high standard, such as the US military?

I have probably asked a thousand time, and I have ask myself a couple of time too, the answer is, I don't know.

Well, you may think I am dodging the question, but the problem is, the question itself is flawed. Basically what you are asking is the 1 million dollar question "Why men commit crime"

Bear in mind, Military is just the same as any and every community, and there will be crime and fiction in each community. You may think since we are well trained, well oiled and we were discipline and those violation should be blown out of window and should not even happens. But when you look at any society, most serial killer are actually quite educated, and well behave, but the question is, why those highly educated person, who live a comfy life without any worries or urge at all, committed these heinous crime? I believe no one can answer you that.

That's the same in the military. Each community have their bad apples, that's why you won't find a country or city on earth without a jail. Military are the same, just because they are well trained, or because they are disciplined that does not mean there will not be any bad apple within our ranks, and when there are bad apples, then there will be crime.

So, generally. to answer your first question, the answer is, simply, I don't know, and If I do ever figured that out, I would probably get a Nobel prize for eradicating crime.

Then it bring to the second part of the question, enforcement and punishment.

Enforcement and Punishment is not as easy as one think to be frank. The first thing is, we are soldiers, not investigator. And if crime do happen, the "Crime Scene" some time not be accessible (It's an active warzone not some civvie crime scene...), that means some time investigation would contrast to the overall objective.

I personally know quite a few Army CID and FBI and they would all tell you the same thing, it's not exactly art to handle an investigation in an active warzone, it's basically a impossibility. You have to secure the Crime scene which would be nothing in civilian world, but quite different in a warzone.

Another problem being Only I can investigate a crime (Or initiate an investigation) but I cannot go over and open a casse every time when somebody told me something is not right. Otherwise I would have wasted the whole year filing reports and asking for investigation but not getting things done. I can only report what I see, and unfortunately, everything other people said, unless is backed up by hard evidence, would be hearsay.

The standard I use in war would be the same standard I use when I was a civvie, I cannot go call the Police when someone said something happened, I have to see it, or had to have evidence to support the claim, so my hands in war are tided, but then today is a bit different than in 2005 or even 2003, iPhone Samsung everywhere, you can just record the incident, but back then, either you have to bring the victim or evidence or whatever crime being accused or there cannot be an investigation.

The final problem is that in the US, military court and civilian court are separated, unless you are talking about the top 3 (Murder, Rape and Kidnapping) basically a trial will go off and the perpetrator punish until he/she was washed out. Military Court have no authority once the person has been discharged, so the time he/she was sentence and processed out, we can literally only hold it until the dishonourable discharge came thru, usually 1 to 2 years time. Top 3 have a special jurisdiction, where they can keep the perpetrator be keep in discipline duty indefinitely, but it was seldom use. Also Military court have a lot less impact than civilian court, where you get media coverage in civil court, media is not allowed for military proceeding. So, basically, a lot of case just went by without noticing.

I hope that I answered your concern, but this is all in my point of view, different people may have a different view toward the same thing.

 

[Slav Defence]

@jhungary
I guess that female soldiers are better to be kept away to land on ground.Aerial strikes would be a better option for them or at the backside of stage.
I know that this might sound stupid to you,but trust me world armies need to re-consider their policies regarding battle field and warfare.
regards

 

[jhungary]

Sorry I did not reply in time, was quite busy with something else these couple of days.

I'm not sure if @Oscar remembers a discussion where he had opined that female pilots should not be allowed because they might be violated if captured.
And this (the underlined sentence) is exactly what had crossed my mind that day.

Well, from what and where I see, there are absolutely no different between a Male POW or a Female POW.

If you have a list of box you can tick on what they can do to you on a POW camp, even if the 2 did not have the same number of box ticked, the number is not really far behind.

Problem with Female POW is actually lives in our mind, not in our reality. While men always think they should be the protector of women, and that's what creating the different at first glance.

I am not saying @Oscar is incorrect, sometime women were actually the weakest link of a group, but if they can pass the same test as men, did what other men do, then why not?

thanks for the tag.
But i did not receive any notification because only the first 5 members will get the notification.

lol, now we can only tag 5 people?

Thanks for the tag again, what's been capt have you been able to fit yourself back into fight huh!

The thing that attracted me most is below



That one I think pretty much sums it up all if I were to describe SERE. In addition,
Before we got our SERE in Izmir (Amphibious Task Group Command), I thought it was just psychically and mentally keeping yourself alive and uncaptured and few more. But after completing it, you see its both more complex and simple than that. On paper it kinda seems like a law or a traffic regulation which is what you described as the Code of Conduct. But it's just a lot more than getting tortured after some classes. On practical if I remember correctly it must have been differed into three levels;

A: Basic
B: Forwardly deployed personnel (pilots, special forces...etc)
C: High-risk capture

But if I carry on I'd have gone too technical and people will get bored, also I'd be off topic. Two of the widely known tactics to break your mentality (as you described), they use on POWs are to hurt your ethical honor and virtue which can have a long list from sexual assaults (M/F doesn't matter) to inhumane violent treatment in which the enemy also aims to make you loose your self-respect not because they think you're animals or all due respect they find you pretty sexy but there are many exceptions for that of course. The other one being breaking the network of support I think this one is most important (at leat for an officer) because if you and a group of friendly units are in the condition of capture or imprison, no matter what we should always keep the chain of command up and running. That is the key element of following the code as a single united unit if there are a group of friendlies under that circumstance above. It doesn't only keeps yourself loyal to the code and remembers you what you've fought for but also it becomes a shield for your personal limits at some sort, by the nature of military. Of course this can go a lot deeper but people should remember that it all ends up for being loyal to the code of conduct just as how its been as active combatants but of course these two are completely two different environments and a lot of stress and disorder is going on but one should remember its an other type of war.

Mike Durant was hell of a warrior by the way. People shouldn't learn about him by Blackhawk Down only.

Now tell the news

lol, all good brah, I was taking a break on my training regime (the down period) and now I gone up again....You can't just keep train and train, it would broke you, I learn that the hard way in Ranger School....

Anyway, SERE can be and sometime is a bit different then being capture, in one very large sense is that being Capture is a part of SERE, but whether you try to escape or not is totally up to you. But even with this difference, the code still exist and applied to all men that has been captured. Done SERE or not. (By the way, you missed the VIP/VVIP category...)

The code is something soldier can find solace to. Everything can and has change, while the code remain unchanged, it is somehow a comfort to those who lived by the code. Basically, if you abandon the code, you abandoned what being a soldier is all about.

One thing about POW and torturing POW tho, it's that it have no face value to broke a person down, I am not saying it have no value at all, but to the eventual effect, which is to obtain information from your POW, what can you get from torturing a PFC? Which to begin with, they know nothing.

So, what could torturing a lowly PFC accomplished? It make the Officer in charge feel shame, it's about something called "Duty of Care" and once that officer feel he/she lost that Duty of Care, that mean you took one of the most important thing off an officer, and that's command. You break an officer when you make him/her felt that he/she failed the chain of command.

There are many way to break people down, and get what you want, but those are quite long to discuss and quite off topic but in all. The code help you by putting you back into something "Normal" in a crazy world, it make you not to go insane...For a normal soldier, the code is what you live by, but for a POW, the code is what keep your hope alive.

And lol, yeah Mike Durant is one hell of a soldier, he should have been awarded the Medal of Honor along with the 2 Delta Operative who died trying to rescue him. There are so much wasn't told about him in the movie, and there so much that he doesn't want anyone to know...

 

[Neptune]

Sorry I did not reply in time, was quite busy with something else these couple of days.



Well, from what and where I see, there are absolutely no different between a Male POW or a Female POW.

If you have a list of box you can tick on what they can do to you on a POW camp, even if the 2 did not have the same number of box ticked, the number is not really far behind.

Problem with Female POW is actually lives in our mind, not in our reality. While men always think they should be the protector of women, and that's what creating the different at first glance.

I am not saying @Oscar is incorrect, sometime women were actually the weakest link of a group, but if they can pass the same test as men, did what other men do, then why not?



lol, now we can only tag 5 people?



lol, all good brah, I was taking a break on my training regime (the down period) and now I gone up again....You can't just keep train and train, it would broke you, I learn that the hard way in Ranger School....

Anyway, SERE can be and sometime is a bit different then being capture, in one very large sense is that being Capture is a part of SERE, but whether you try to escape or not is totally up to you. But even with this difference, the code still exist and applied to all men that has been captured. Done SERE or not. (By the way, you missed the VIP/VVIP category...)

The code is something soldier can find solace to. Everything can and has change, while the code remain unchanged, it is somehow a comfort to those who lived by the code. Basically, if you abandon the code, you abandoned what being a soldier is all about.

One thing about POW and torturing POW tho, it's that it have no face value to broke a person down, I am not saying it have no value at all, but to the eventual effect, which is to obtain information from your POW, what can you get from torturing a PFC? Which to begin with, they know nothing.

So, what could torturing a lowly PFC accomplished? It make the Officer in charge feel shame, it's about something called "Duty of Care" and once that officer feel he/she lost that Duty of Care, that mean you took one of the most important thing off an officer, and that's command. You break an officer when you make him/her felt that he/she failed the chain of command.

There are many way to break people down, and get what you want, but those are quite long to discuss and quite off topic but in all. The code help you by putting you back into something "Normal" in a crazy world, it make you not to go insane...For a normal soldier, the code is what you live by, but for a POW, the code is what keep your hope alive.

And lol, yeah Mike Durant is one hell of a soldier, he should have been awarded the Medal of Honor along with the 2 Delta Operative who died trying to rescue him. There are so much wasn't told about him in the movie, and there so much that he doesn't want anyone to know...

Ahh really??? Never had been subject to a category of VIP. What's that if you were to go deep technical..

Also one thing to add, that's why officer holds hell a lot of bigger responsibility than his men if held POW. Before the ability to command he needs to be more agile, more tougher and more resistant than his own men. If he needs to keep the motivation and hope alive, he has to demonstrate that because you know he's the one and only example to his men. Officer takes his power from his men as much as the troopers take it from their commander and code.