Military Base II

 

Discipline & Obedience

26th April

Thomas Kenneth

Flogestone Mayor

I'm writing this letter in response to <your letter> received on 16 April. Please accept my apologies for my stubborn soldiers and the inconvenience they bring to your magnificent town. I fully understand your approach. However, we can not remove flogging punishment from our code. Discipline is crucial in the army and sometimes it needs to be enforced the hard way. Every insubordination must be severely punished. Flogging may be considered cruel, but my privates are strong men, and they can endure a lot. Screams and moans are only proof the whipping is delivered properly. Some soldiers must taste the hell of the whip on their muscular backs. It's necessary not only for them, for the army, but also to benefit the town. Nearly half of the cases court martial investigates deal with soldiers' behavior during the pass. I kindly remind you, the town council sent us a request to increase the severity of punishments due to the soldiers' outrageous behavior in their free time. The increased number of whippings we had lately, greater number of lashes, and higher severity is a response to the town petition. For example, last week 6 privates were flogged for getting drunk and having a fight in the pub. The whip on their muscular backs makes them remember to behave the next time they are outside the base. I won't accept any violence against civilians. I believe citizens prefer to listen to the soldiers' screams for a while rather than being frightened by undisciplined privates. To be honest, If I haven't heard screams of agony during punishment, I'd flog them myself again to make sure their suffering meets the needs to keep them in line. The number of lashes may be adjusted. The intensity is not. Full-force whipping is the only one I can accept.

I'm afraid we can not move the flogging to the other place. The whipping post is placed into the center of the base on purpose. Soldiers should witness corporal punishment to have its preventive effect. However, I ordered to abandon floggings during weekends and holidays to reduce inconvenience for the citizens. I also consider flogging men for minor offenses in the training camps located away from the buildings.

I hope we can meet next week and discuss the problem like a man to a man.

Sincerely

Colonel

Andrew Taft