How will you keep them from escaping? And what if they turn and shoot friend instead of foe? Too many dangers involved with doing something like that.

you want us to pay them, give them a gun, and put them on the battle front where they could easily escape? Right thats a real good idea

Speaking as someone who is in the Armed Forces, the last thing we need is people who are not disciplined enough to follow the rules of society. How can they follow the more stringent rules of the military when they can't follow the simple rules of everyday life? Serving in the military is about sacrificing for a cause that is greater than the individual. I don't see how someone with a criminal record is concerned about a the greater good of their unit, their service, or their country. People with prior convictions or felonies are often forbidden from holding security clearances that allow them access to classified information. People who lie and are dishonest have no business holding security clearances, therefore they will have limited options in the military. I'm all for rehabilitation of the incarcerated, but I don't favor the mechanism for this to be one where they are put into situations where they potentially put other people at risk. The Core Values of the Air Force are: Integrity First; Service Before Self; and Excellence in All We Do. Each service has their own Core Values, which are similar in intent to the Air Force's. Finding a convict who would swear to live by every one of these values to protect their country would be somewhat of a challenge.

If they are in jail they have already shown a disregard for authority. **(no quote) How can you expect them to follow orders and how can you fight with an army that doesn't? **(no quote) I have seen movies etc. where some say they are in the army because a judge gave them a choice of that or jail, but I don't know if that is just a Hollywood fantasy or really happens. **(no quote) I do agree that for first time offenders of non-violent crimes might be offered this as an alternative. **(no quote) I think the environment in jail just taches petty criminals to be biger criminals. The army coudl offer a more positive environment as could therefore do a better job of turning them before it is too late.

You mean take a group of probably violent offenders, give them a gun, and set them loose on another people? Who knows who they'll be killing. Probably our own troops. We could do what they did in the old days. Take all our prisoners, and leave them on an island filled with hostile animals, and dry weather. It worked pretty well for Australia!

People are sent to prison because they are untrustworthy - they have broken the rules of society. The army, for good reason, has even stronger rules than society. You want someone who cannot be trusted with societies ordinary rules given lethal weapons and sent to places where they have to make life-or-death decisions instantaneously? The days when soldiers were mere cannon fodder, given guns and lined up in rows to take on the same on the other side are long gone. Today's soldiers have to be skilled professionals, particularly in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan where insurgents are mixed up with innocent civilians. The vast majority of prisoners fall into crime because of poor intelligence, poor education, or drugs. Exactly the sort of people you do not want to send out with modern weaponry,

I'm sorry. I do get the point that you raise, but I have to profoundly disagree. . The men and women of the United States military are good and honorable people who have chosen to place their lives on the line in order to serve our country. . They are, and have the right to consider themselves to be, among the finest of all Americans. . I would bet my last penny that you agree with what I just said. . Which is why I have to point out that your question is wholly inconsistent with that view. Unintentionally so, but still. . While you have an admirable desire to make these criminals do something useful for the country, bear in mind that this would require our honorable sons and daughters who have volunteered to serve in the military to serve alongside criminals. . You should think of the people who are in the military, and ask yourself if you really wish to burden them by placing robbers and rapists and drug dealers and murderers in the barracks along with them. . And especially consider that, if your suggestion were taken, the robbers and rapists and drug dealers and murderers would be in those barracks after having been issued weapons. . Our kids over there have enough to worry about without having to deal with that. They shouldn't have to watch their backs while they're trying to do their jobs. . Also (and believe me, I say this sincerely -- I absolutely know this is not what you meant), your suggestion basically equates our service men and women with cannon fodder. . As an American, and as someone who is concerned that the selfless heroism of our troops should never be misused, I would be worried about a situation where we were fighting a war in the hopes that some of our troops would never come home. . The losses would never be limited to just those folks that you (and I) do not like. . I'll say again that I know this isn't your intent, but it's pretty much the unavoidable effect of the course you recommend. . +5. And thanks for listening to my answer.

It is interesting to note that it is a fact that in the UK 20% of prisoners are ex forces personnel...

It has to do with character, Catherine. The military has its own judicial system, called the "Uniform Code of Military Justice" (UCMJ). Under the UCMJ, pretty much everything is covered, just as in the civilian world. People may be tried and punished, even up to the death penalty. However, the military DOESN'T want people with known criminal character flaws for a variety of reasons. The biggest would have to do with "good order and discipline" issues. Anything which adversely affects good order an discipline is frowned upon in the military. Unlike the civilian population, lack of good order and discipline ultimately means one really big thing: servicemembers DIE as a result. Either individually or by whole companies, divisions, ships, or fleets. People who cannot work well together as a team in the military have a very short lifespan...and so do the people around them. Some convicted criminals have not only their own active character working against this concept, but the fact that the people that must depend on them have a lack of trust or even an outright hatred of them. Known thieves are not trusted at all among shipmates who must live in close quarters, for example. Criminals who commit acts of violence cannot be trusted to control themselves and work as a team member. Rapists cannot be trusted within the company. And let us never forget: every servicemember is a United States Ambassador in every country they visit, even (and perhaps most especially) when on liberty. How the world at large views America is trememdously affected by how our servicemembers comport themselves while in foreign countries. Put yourself in the position of a Soldier/Sailor/Airman who must work alongside convicts and ask yourself: How would this make you feel? How would this affect your performance an the performance of your unit? Put yourself in the position of a Commanding Officer with a unit in a foreign country: How would you to deal with any altercations with the local civilian authorities? What would you do to prevent it? What would be the impact, not only on the local scale, but on an international scale? I remember when I was in Gibraltar when one of my shipmates got drunk and cold-cocked a local police officer. You would have lost a LARGE sum of money if you would have bet that news of that didn't make it all the way up to the highest levels at the Pentagon. Now imagine having to deal with known criminals as well.

Absolutely not, the vast majority of them would be unsuitable for the army.

Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. (LeaDeRSHIP) In the Army these are the values we hold dear. The last thing you want is a bunch of disloyal, irresponsible, disrespectful, self-serving, dishonorable, morally ambiguous chicken sh**s in charge of the defense of our foreign and domestic assets. Two words: forced labor.

You're not the first person to think of this. This has been tried in many countries at various times during history and the results have not been good. The Germans tried this during WWII when they were desperate for soldiers and what they found was that the convicts were more trouble than they were worth. Among the most serious problems was that they had no courage and would run from any serious fight. They were hard to control and could not be trusted in urban areas where they would terrorize local people and loot what they could. The Germans concluded that having them around was a waste of good officers.

Making an army of criminal conscripts is not something I would consider to be good. Besides, it's not like the US has a lack of soldiers, we have plenty. Now, if you want to do something about our filled and overcrowded prisons, we could start by releasing the people who, in a proper society, would not even be there. This includes all of the people who are there for doing illegal drugs, selling illegal drugs, knowing what illegal drugs are ect.

If my life depended on a felon to fight with me in a fire fight, I don't think it would be very good idea. If that person is out of line in a normal society how would they react in a more military atmosphere? Nope, I don't want a felon alondside me in any society.

Because it's not like the late 60's where we would send convicts to Vietnam to die. Military warefare is much more complicated now, so if you sent those idiots over to the Middle East they would screw sh** up and get everyone killed.

I don't like the idea of giving rapists and muderers M-16's and combat training.

Absolutely NOT! Being a soldier is an honorable profession. Forcing a bunch of crooks and other criminals to become soldiers would be not only insulting to those who volunteer, but would increase the number of hazards they have to face. It's bad enough having to watch your front without having to watch your back as well.

Now there's a really bad idea. It would be a good idea if we were setting about to create a barbarian horde but not so much for a modern military. You don't want a military made up of mercenaries and murderers. You need people that have a sense of honor and can follow legal orders. You want people that will cooperate and protect their comrades, not gang members. The army has already lowered its standards because it can't recruit enough good people to accomplish its multiple missions. The recent shootings in Fort Hood show what happens when you accept and keep less than the best. I am not saying that some of the incarcerated couldn't be rehabilitated into good soldiers but it would not work on a wholesale basis. Many people are in jail that shouldn't be there. Their crimes are minor and the system is weighted towards incarceration rather than rehabilitation. Sometimes the choice of jail or military makes sense, especially for teens that need discipline. But as a general policy it is definitely not a good way to empty the jails.

My method of Jail would be to have ALL Prisons in the desert 100 miles from the nearest road and bring them in by a single train track or Fly them in. NO television or workout rooms because they get too many muscles and besides they will be too tired to workout after they spend time on the Chain Gangs and other road clean up projects with shovels. We have all this Free Labor, we need to use it- there won't be any fights in prison because they will be too tired!

As a veteran, I can tell you that this isn't a good idea. While it sounds good and other countries have impemented such practices, it doesn't work out so well. We have a volunteer armed force and that's the way it should stay. If it's for patriotism, just to have a job, or to get educational benefits, every person that joins the military wants to be there for some reason. Because they want to be there, they do what they have to and are good, reliable personel. Sending convicts to the military would be extremely dangerous. Many civilians think that all the military does is kill. Well, not true. Military funding has advanced technology, medicine, discovery, freedom, and communications. Military people go in to not only conflicts but hazardous areas, such as hurricane aftermath, earthquakes, and even city riots. We have helped people on both the international and the domestic front in such situations and we have kept people safe. This is hardly the kind of responsibility I'd entrust to convicted rapists and murderers. I have always been bothered that the publc has such a low perception of our military force. I, for one, am proud to have served my country. I went to Afghanistan after Sept/11th and I love and respect anyone and everyone who has served before and after that event. The military is not a place to dump criminals. It is a place for young men and women to serve their country and give back something of themselves in thanks for the freedom that so many take for granted. As a vet, we don't want the messed up people to have weapons so they can kill. We want people we feel we can trust fighting along side us. We want people that are there to save lives, not end them. And as civilians, you want a military force you can be proud of and trust. If your city was destroyed by an earthquake or hurricane and the National Guard was sent in to help people, would you want someone that was convicted of murder to be responsible for you and your family or would you want someone that joined willingly because he/she wanted to help protect people in that situation? Who would you trust? After all that, when you think about it more, do you honestly think it'd be a good idea to put convited criminals in the military? I sure don't.