Rules of Engagement for Land Forces: A Matter of Training, Not Lawyering Volume 143

This article examines the difficult problem of imparting rules of engagement ROE to individual soldiers and marines. The report argues that the present method of imparting ROE relies too heavily on a legislative model of controlling behavior. As a result, the present method suffers from a series of defects, culminating in a failure to account for the cognitive limits of humans under stress. The report concludes that commanders and judge advocates can minimize these defects by adopting a training model. Such a model would include a set of standing rules on the use of force for soldiers, a series of training scenarios designed to reinforce the standing rules across the spectrum of potential conflict, and a format by which units may supplement the standing rules for particular operations.