If a soldier is captured in battle, has he been successful or has he failed.

Question

If a soldier is captured in battle, has he been successful or has he failed.

Answer 1

Successful because he was willing enough to serve us and some of the ignorant people who don't support the troops

Answer 2

If you survive the torture and humiliation then your successful.

Answer 3

You gave only one parameter.

Judging the result, by that one parameter, one must conclude he has failed. To think, he has succeeded, one would logically conclude that the goal of the battle would be accomplished if all or most of the fighters were captured.

Some of the answers above were given, thinking of parameters that you did not include in your question.

Answer 4

You have'nt failed but you have'nt neccesarily accomplished your mission either!

Answer 5

Generally the mission was unsuccessful, not the soldier. Commanders often operate on the assumption that there will be losses in a given mission i.e. expendable resources however a pilot who repeatedly losses his aircraft might be considered a bad pilot. Additionally your conduct while captured speaks volumes about your character. Such as causing hardship on your fellow POW’s by acting out. Knowing that your fellow POW’s will be punished for your actions instead of you, because your father and grand father were both 4 star Admirals in the navy. (not to mention any names)

Before anyone gets their panties in a twist, this information is from the "not mentioned's) own autobiography. People should really read his book and see who he really is.

Answer 6

failed, but has a chance to be successful. If you are dead than you cant try again. Unless of course you are captured by terrorist organizations or insurgents, in which case you are dead as a door nail.

Answer 7

Overall, sucessful.

Just because he was captured, doesnt mean he didnt make a difference or an impact on someone elses life!

Answer 8

It is impossible to judge the troops that are captured as successes or failures.  Would you refer to the defenders of Corregidor and Wake Island as failures?  Pilots and aircrews that are shot down are virtually defenseless when on the ground; and being shot down does not make a pilot a failure, as many very good pilots have been shot down.

>Even if someone is captured, it does not mean that the mission was a failure.  A case in point is the Battle of Midway, the turning point of the Second World War in the Pacific.  Two Navy aviators were captured by Japanese warships after their aircraft was shot down.  The Japanese were upset at the destruction of four aircraft carriers by American aircraft; they lashed the two Americans together and tossed them overboard, where they drowned.

Answer 9

Depends, how was he captured in the first place,for example was it in response to an action which was in-properly executed i.e did he e.g. disobey an order or was the unit greatly outnumbered. In my opinion, no the soldier is not unsuccessful.

Answer 10

Unless he has surrendered he is a victim of circumstance. Just because he is a P.O.W doesn't mean the war is over for him/her. There will be other people looking and trying to liberate him/her.

Answer 11

It means he or she was unlucky.  Combat is pretty chaotic and being captured is more often bad luck or bad intelligence than a soldier not doing their job or acting unprofessionally.

Answer 12

That totally depends upon whether or not he was able to accomplish his task. Being captured does not indicate the success or failure of the individual soldier.