You're in the A rmy, now. wasFalse Alarm? Was:Re: Adults "failing" Harry (in tP)

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 120089


> Pippin:
> I've never been in the military, and will gladly accept correction 
> from someone who has, but would any regular army in its right 
> mind want a chronic rebel like Sirius or an incorrigible thief like 
> Dung?

Neri:
Yes, definitely. Almost every army in the world has at least one unit
that is comprised of rebels, potential (or actual) criminals and
generally all kinds of misfits. This unit is regularly assigned the
most dangerous operations and positions. The reason is that the nice
guys are frequently too sane to risk themselves in suicide missions.  

> Pippin:
> They'd have washed out in basic, seems to me. I've never  
> heard of a regular army where the soldiers get to decide which 
> orders are important. The first thing Sun Tzu did, when he 
> accepted the challenge of turning the Emperor's harem into an 
> army, was have the chief concubine killed for disobedience.
>

Neri:
Discipline in these units is indeed a complex issue. During basic
training discipline would be enforced very ruthlessly (Sun Tzu's
method would be a bit extreme nowadays, but not by much) but once
these soldiers had proven their merit the level of discipline would
typically be lower than in the usual units. The wise commander will
routinely let these troops get away with a lot, as long as they
deliver the priceless goods: uncompromising courage under fire. 

In such units, the real breach of discipline would be considered
failing to charge and failing to come to the help of your friends. In
this sense Sirius was a model soldier: his first breach of discipline
basically endangered only himself. His second was a classical "you
don't lets your friends charge the enemy by themselves" and also a
classical "no one's left behind". Also, in hindsight it was probably
the correct decision: reading the description of the battle, it is
pretty obvious that Sirius made the small difference that saved the
other Order members, Harry and the prophecy until DD showed up. This
is beside the point, however - Sirius would have gone anyway, and
there were certainly many cases in military history in which a
thoughtless dash to save your friends led to disaster ("Blackhawk
Down" describes a typical example with reasonable realism). Despite
this, most armies still consider this type of units a great asset.   

Mundungus' offence in leaving his watch is another thing. We know very
little about Mundungus, and we don't know if DD punished him in any
way, but Mrs. Figg seemed quite apprehensive. Generally, in such
special units leaving the watch would be considered a serious offence
not because it was a breach of discipline, but because it would be
endangering your friends. If it was done out of thoughtlessness rather
than lack of courage, and no lasting harm was done, the soldier would
usually keep his place in the unit (although he might sustain some
severe punishment that he'll typically take "like a man").

Of course, the Order is not a regular unit at all, but seems to be
typical underground organization. These organizations are something
else again, but they are similar to the above units in that courage
and loyalty to your friends are more important than strict discipline.
Underground organizations also typically include criminals, rebels and
other misfits. The Order of the Phoenix indeed follows this pattern –
in addition to the rebel and the thief they also have a werewolf, a
squib, an ex-DE and a severely paranoid ex-auror. It will probably be
these misfits that will win the war, rather than the Arthurs and the
Mollys. 

Neri