Fighting-Force Code Contains Six Articles

The Code of the US Fighting Force gives members of the US Armed Forces six articles governing their conduct in combat, while evading capture, as prisoners, and during escape attempts. The Korean War revealed that American troops lacked a clearly defined code for resisting enemy pressure after capture. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the code through Executive Order 10631 in 1955. It directs troops to resist surrender, aid escape attempts, protect fellow prisoners, and limit information given to captors, although it serves as military doctrine rather than formal military law.

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