Discussion of The Importance of Discipline in Army

What is Meant by 'Discipline'?

The term “discipline” has a vast range of meaning when it is considered with the armed troops. As per the view of Frank Burns “without discipline the army would just be a bunch of guys wearing the same colour clothing”. That quotation reveals the importance of the discipline in the matter of armed troops.

As per the Collins Dictionary meaning, “discipline” is the quality of being able to behave and work in a controlled way which involves obeying particular rules or standards. As the definition states members must adhere to the rules and regulations imposed by the particular organization that they are in order to keep the existing disciplinary system of the organization.

In the Cambridge Dictionary the meaning of the term “discipline” has been phrased as the “training that makes people more willing to obey or more able to control themselves, often in the form of rules, and punishments if these are broken, or the behaviour produced by this training”. As per its meaning discipline is a chance that was given by the authorities to the members in order to control their own behaviour through the tasks they are aligned with.

Why an Army Needs a Concept Like 'Discipline'?

As per the quotation of Frank Burns the Army is completed only if they have the discipline amongst them. In the time period of mid-eighteenth century the British Army was also faced to the challenge of tarnishing the reputation of the armed forces by their own soldiers as well as the officers. There was a trend of committing the offences “Desertion” and “Mutiny” by most of the armed forces members. [Since they were subjected to continuous wars and conflicts their minds were in a stage of seeking a relief from those and go back to their loved ones. The offences like Desertion was taken place specially owing to that reason. Mutiny was happened since all the time those soldiers were under the mind of wars and conflicts. That violence mind had influenced their behaviours in a direct manner.]

At the very beginning there were no properly codified disciplinary actions. But when they found that continuously their image getting tarnished the law making bodies made the offences and punishments sections for the armed forces Acts. Since Sri Lanka is also following the content of the British Army Act, Sri Lanka is also having the similar chapters for the military offences and their punishments. The Part Ⅻ of the Army Act is considered the military offences and the punishments should be imposed on particulars. [Offences that will be committing by soldiers and the officers, as well as the punishments for those are important factors when studying on discipline since the concept discipline is build up with those pillars. While offences breach the discipline, punishments are there to restructure the gap created. Therefore, both offences and their punishments are important for a study done on “Discipline”. ]

The Army Act mentions the offence “Disobedience to superior officer” as one of the common offences among soldiers. If any person who governs under the military law disobeys to his superior officer when he is performing duties then such person is punished under any severe punishment mentioned in the section 133. This offence will harshly damage to the disciplinary order of the armed forces since if one does not obey to the superior then others will also get influenced with that and then the soldiers will act upon their own commands. [In this context the disobeying means willfully ignoring to execute the commands given by orally or in writing or by signals or otherwise.] [This will be immensely affected while the armed troops are on the active service in a war situation. If the soldiers are not going to adhere to the orders of their superior then it will be directly affected to the end result of the war and then it will leads to a threat focused on the state security. Meanwhile, it will affect the perspective of the society towards the chore of the armed forces as well as it will harm to the faith of the society towards the armed forces.]

In the case of Chandrasena v. Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and others, the accused was charged with two offences mention in the Army Act. One is conduct “prejudicial to good order and military discipline” under section 102(1). In such type of offence committed by any armed forces personnel will be created an enormous discussion among the whole society since the perspective towards the forces is a sensitive factor which is directly affected to the national security of a state as well. [The section 102(1) is focusing on the disobedience of the armed forces personals towards the Garrison and other orders issue by the higher authorities. This Garrison and other orders contain standing orders, movement orders as well as duty roasters which are issued in time to time owing to the necessity arisen. If a soldier does not obey to any movement order given to him while he is on active service in a war period it will be affected to the end result of the war. Under movement orders if a soldier asked to report to a particular place on a particular time then he must be there on time that he was ordered to as he is abide to perform any lawful order given to him as an Army order while he is engaging on war or else on regular duties.]

As per the section 103 of the Army Act, one of the most common offences is “Desertion” which can be considered as a bit tremendous situation when considering the reputation of the Army. Most of the soldiers rather than the officers commit the offence desertion. The tremendous situation that can be arisen owing to the desertion will be the civil offences that are committed by the deserted persons from the armed forces. Even though, people appreciate and trust what army did in war times and other conflict situation as well as in natural disasters once a member of armed forces committed a single offence they are used to impose the blame on army as a whole. [More recently, some severe civil offences like murder, rape, robbery as well as attempting and committing suicide with his arms were committed by the deserted persons of the armed persons. Furthermore, some of those deserted armed forces members are used to commit other serious offences like drug trafficking as well as drug distribution.]

Specially, the deserted persons who illegally own their arms more often commit serious offences like murders which are punishable under the general criminal courts as well. Furthermore, with the arms they can even commit suicide as well. If such persons caught while the attempting to suicide then they are liable for the offence “Dueling and attempting to commit suicide” under section 127 of the Army Act. [In such situations the soldiers or the officers are liable for several offences like desertion, illegally owns the arms of army, absent without leave as well as the offences like murders.] [If any person, who subjects to military law fights, promotes, concerned in or connives at a fighting or attempt to commit suicide then for the officers the maximum punishment will be the cashiering while the soldiers will get rigorous or simple imprisonment. Also for the attempting to commit suicide there the courts impose penal deductions which are equal to the cost for treatments.]

Under section 104(1) the offence “Fraudulent Enlistment” has mentioned. This offence can be considered as a threat to the national security to a certain extend. Under this context anyone can provide the relevant documents by using fraudulent details in order to recruit into the Army. As per the contemporary security issues occurred around the world if such fraudulent enlistment will be taken place even terrorists, deserters from foreign armed forces as well as criminals can be enlisted into the armed forces. [The fraudulent enlistment can be committed by providing illegal documents that are made according to the required qualifications to get selected to the armed forces. As examples the birth certificates, other required certificates on educational qualifications can be made as per the requirement s of the armed forces. Also if the person was discharges previously from army then such person can make fraudulent documents in order to re-enlist into the armed forces. If such person who discharged from army had committed any serious offence like committing a murder and if he could enlist fraudulently then the society can be questioned on such enlistment since it clearly seems to be a threat to the national security of the particular country.]

Under any circumstance if a terrorist could enter into any armed force, then the most sensitive security secrets can be passed towards the rebels or other foreign states through that person. Owing to that severe punishments should be given to such persons in order to prevent further enlistments that could be happened. Also mandatorily the punishment should be proportion with the offence committed. Punishment cannot be either severe than or not sufficient enough when comparing to the offence. [If an enemy state got to know about such sensitive security secrets then it will direct to a huge threat to the country since the enemies can attack them easily with the information they have as well as the particular country may not get any chance to fix for the threats that will be directed to the state security.]

In the case of Captain Nawarathna v Major General Sarath Fonseka and 6 others the offence of “Scandalous conduct of officer” and the offence of “Conduct prejudicial to military discipline” were taken into consideration. The case was arisen on an action of a Captain of Sri Lanka Army which is coming under an offence that is committed by an officer and ultimately caused a challenge to the discipline of the army officers. The case was about rejecting a marriage promise after having sexual intercourse several times with the fiancée in a background that he was signed an affidavit in front of the army commander. [ The petitioner who was a Captain of Sri Lanka army had a relationship with his then fiancée. They had the relationship more than 10 years period and the petitioner had sexual intercourse with her by saying that he will marry her. However, the petitioner refused to marry her and then she took the case in front to the superiors of the petitioner and then after a explaining the gravity of the act the petitioner promised to marry his fiancée within 6 months. Then later he informed that he will not marry her under any circumstances and again it was brought to the notice of the superior. After conducting a court of inquiry they decided that the petitioner is guilty for the offences committed under sections 107 and 129(1). Then after forwarding the decision to the Army Commander he had ordered to conduct a summary trial. At the trial the petitioner stated that he did not receive any charge sheet and on that case he does not know the charges that imposed on him. At the end of the summary trial Court Martial has imposed punishments as forfeiture of seniority from 109 ranks and discharge from the army. ]

When such cases are reported the perspective of the society towards the reputation of the army will go downwards since such ill-treats done to a lady are not accepted by the society. Especially when considering the cultural background of Sri Lanka such ill-treats to a lady will not accept and the offenders are neglected crucially by the whole society. Since such kinds of acts are tarnishing the good image of the army the discipline can be questioned by the civil society if the offenders or wrongdoers do not get the required punishments.

The section 110 of the Army Act provides another most common offence that is committed by the soldiers as well as the officers. The offence “Drunkenness” can be considered under two main charges as per the Army Act mentions it. Those charges are the “under influence of liquor” and the “smell of alcohol”. Drunkenness is also remarked as a severe offence when considering about the situations like wars as well as performing duties at the guard points. [ If a soldier performing duties at a guard point with the influence of alcohol then the particular guard point is getting unsecured. It will threat to the security of the particular army base. If the soldier is drunk at a place where he has to stay alert then he is liable for any threat occurring owing to his negligent act. Furthermore, being drunk while on active service can also be considered as neglect to obey garrison or other orders which is coming under the section 102(1). ]

Conclusion

The importance of the discipline among the armed troop soldiers and officers can be further identified by considering the number of chapters allocated for the disciplinary actions and its related categories. Starting from part Ⅷ almost 10 parts of the Army Act contains chapters which are relating to the offences, court procedures and the punishments that are basically known as the chapters relating to discipline. By including almost more than half of its chapters for the laws regarding discipline the Army Act has shown how important the discipline in an army is.

Moreover, when considering the special court system for military offences and its procedure it is shown how harsh the summary trials and court hearings are. By placing a special court named, “Field General Court Martial” even though the troops are in war base if any of the soldiers or officers commit any offences the punishments are awarded instantly and showing the significance of the discipline within the army.

Especially, the section 133 states the scale of punishments that is given by the Court Martial for the offenders. Those punishments are categorized as punishments for the officers and the soldiers. Death penalty, Imprisonment, Detention and some other severe and less severe punishments are mentioned under the particular section.

More importantly, though the offences are committed by only a few groups of soldiers and officers the ultimate blame is directed towards the whole armed forces. Meanwhile, though the number of soldiers is less that particular group can overcome any obstacle with the power and trust created among them owing to the discipline that they have maintained. Furthermore, the discipline that they have made throughout their career always gives them the due respect no matter what they do and where they stand. The discipline which was shown off through a less number of soldiers gives an unbearable respect to all the armed forces members as Sri Lankan citizens showing their due respect to all the armed force members with post thirty years civil war happened in Sri Lanka.

Bibliography

1. Army Act 1949 (SL)
2. Captain Nawarathna v Major General Sarath Fonseka and 6 others [2009] 1 Sri LR 190
3. Chandrasena v. Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and others [2004] 1 Sri LR 404
4. Hendrix S, ‘the soul of all armies: discipline, control thereof in the mid 18th century British army,’ Academia.edu
5. Renaut C, ‘The impact of military disciplinary sanctions on compliance with international humanitarian law’ (2008) 90 International Review of the Red Cross, 319
6. Cambridge Dictionary, viewed 17 September 2020,
7. Collins Dictionary, viewed 17 September 2020.