Worst Punishments In History For Disobedient Soldiers

Serving for your country in the military is an honor, but it's also a major lifestyle change, and it could be hard for some soldiers to fall in line and obey orders. Today's epic new video finds out what happens if a soldier disobeys an order! Do they get fired, or sent to the firing squad?! Find out right now!

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[lancratot]

My mom : Go take out the trash
Me : No.
My mom : You dare oppose me mortal ?

[TheColdestWater]

How is it that you always answer the questions that are in the back of our minds?🤯🤯🤯

[firepowerg]

In the Roman Empire you could be sent to Gladiatorial combat for laughing at the Governor when he told you the name of his friend and friend's wife.

"What's so funny about the name Biggus Dickus?"

[ComicalRealm]

"The claim 'I was only following orders' has been used to justify too many tragedies in our history" - Peppa Pig

[booksteer]

During WWII only one American soldier was executed solely for desertion: Pvt. Edward Slovik. According to Stephen Ambrose, the number of German soldiers who were executed for desertion was 50, 000.

[OfficerPak]

“There are 300, 000 Armed Afghan Soldiers up against 75, 000 Talibans”

*Surrenders*

[dme]

Good soldiers follow orders

- Anikanus skawalkus

[mitodrumisra]

Everybody gangsta until the soldier disobeys in North Korea.

[brandonpalmer]

As good as the story was, I couldn't concentrate every time he said "corporeal" instead of "corporal"

[laurendoe]

This entire video assumes a lawful order was given. IMO, two more videos need to be made: 1) What if a soldier disobeys an unlawful order, and 2) What if a soldier obeys an unlawful order.

[peterking]

Nowadays you also have a duty to disobey an illegal order (like being ordered to mistreat POWs). Also there are times when the Geneva Convention is not applicable (combatant civilians, aka spies).

I remember in the British Army, in the mid 80’s there were still punishable by death under the Army Act. The Army Act, 1955, was written when the UK still had a civilian death sentence.

Once such offense was desertion, but the offender was normal charged with AWOL (Absence WitOut Leave). I only know of one person charged (& convicted) of desertion, but technically he faced the death penalty. Eventually he was kicked out of the Army and his British nationality was revoked (he had dual citizenship).

[lonewolfnergiganos]

I'm really becoming more addicted to Infographics's videos.

[oliversherman]

Soldiers: oops looks like a disobeyed another order. Oh well Clone troopers: good soldiers follow orders

[royscott]

Every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine disobeys orders on a daily basis. Whether it’s related to uniform, taking in chow line, goofing off instead of working…etc…it’s done daily.

[johvan]

I got fired from a job a while ago for insubordination by a retired "marine".that was supposed to whip the company back into shape..long story short..he didn't know the definition of insubordination...he was fired himself 2 weeks later.

[thedebatehitman]

It depends upon several factors: 1) the severity or effect of the offense, 2) who gave the order, and 3) perceived intent of the offender.

In a setting of war, the penalties for failure to obey may be very severe, and US troops may be punished with death or as a court martial may direct. Also, an offense that’s manifestly wrong or which brings discredit upon good order, discipline, or morale of a unit (Articles 77-133 of the UCMJ) will be punished more severely. But in most other settings, isolated failures to obey are typically corrected with informal or formal counseling.

It also depends upon whether the order was given directly to the troop by a proximate superior in his/her chain of command or whether the order is a regulation/instruction (given by someone way higher up in the chain).

Disobeying a direct order from an immediate superior will sometimes be treated with more severity than failure to obey a regulation/instruction given by a general because the disobedience may be perceived as personal.

For example, when a unit gets inspected for compliance, it’s assessed with respect to whether it abides by all regulations/instructions given for each program or functional area. And yet, if one or more discrepancies are discovered, the commander and program manager could literally be said to have failed to obey one or more lawful orders. But since the discrepancies are likely the result of human error made in a good-faith effort to comply rather than willful disobedience, the Inspector General usually just submits a write-up and gives the non-compliant unit a period of time to remedy the deficiencies. And if an IG really digs, every unit will have deficiencies, as there are literally thousands of tasks and orders prescribed by various instructions and regulations, all of which are typically updated every two or three years. Needless to say, staying above water when running a program is nearly impossible without infinite resources (humans, time, financial, etc.).

So like I mentioned, in the US, it boils down to 1) the severity or effect of the offense, 2) proximity of who gave and disobeyed the order and 3) perceived intent of the offender.

[imaliveu]

I believe there are higher laws which override military law as such the chain of command in carrying out an unethical order.

But as it is when you enlist in the military you become the military's property. In the old days for disobeying an order the penalty would be getting killed of course now it's being arrested and court marshaled.

[ayarel]

“Corporal” versus “corporeal”. You might want to redo the voiceover on this one. 😬

[Existntlangst]

True story: served in Iraq as a platoon leader in the US Army as a Warrant Officer during the surge in Iraq 2006-2007 for a 15 month deployment. As we were redeploying back through Kuwait, we had a Soldier get assigned a job to move equipment. He didn't want to as it was hot (October) and he was burned out. He cussed out the Sergeant and threatened to beat his (The Sergeant's) a$$.

As the soldier's officer in charge, I was responsible for his actions. The First Sergeant wanted me to write the soldier up and start the process to take his rank (non judicial punishment. My platoon sergeant, Sergeant First Class, stepped up and volunteered to administer "corrective training". Basically, he made the young soldier do brutal physical fitness training such as low crawling, wind sprints, push ups, flutter kicks, and other exercises for about an hour, taking a break every 10 mins for him to hydrate for 30 seconds. This was outside in the sun in 100° F heat. Pretty sure the soldier lost 10 lbs and went through 3 gallons of water while sweating out at least 2 more gallons

The soldier apologized and kept his rank. All was cool after that

[CharleyHorse]

I've never heard it called "corporeal" punishment, only "corporal" punishment. It makes sense since corporeal means "of the body"...