Aviano’s legal office explains LOAC rules, guidlines

  • Published
  • By Capt. Thomas Gabriele
  • Assistant Staff Judge Advocate
Aviano Air Base, Italy --  The Law of Armed Conflict is a collection of rules from various international sources that define how civilized nations fight in wartime. Three of the basic principles of LOAC are chivalry, military necessity and proportionality.

The first principle is chivalry and refers to the conduct of warfare in accordance with well-recognized formalities and courtesies. It permits deceptive measures and maneuvers, such as false radio signals, mock troop movements and camouflage. However, it does forbid unlawful deceptive acts. These acts involve misuse of internationally-recognized symbols or status to take unfair advantage of the enemy.

Unlawful deceptive acts can include false surrenders, placing anti-aircraft artillery in hospitals, and misuse of the Red Cross or the Red Crescent. In a broader sense, the principle of chivalry incorporates basic concepts of morality, military honor and human decency, whether or not specifically articulated in custom or treaty.

The second principle is military necessity. This principle recognizes that combatants involved in armed conflict may use force or violence only against those people, places or objects that are used for military purposes and the destruction of which will weaken the enemy militarily.

This includes combatants, military installations and the facilities which support the military. The principle prohibits attacks on hospitals, schools, cultural objects and civilians as long as they are not being used for a military purpose.

Military necessity has four basic elements:
· Any force used must be regulated by the user
· Only force necessary to achieve the partial or complete submission of the adversary, as quickly as possible, is allowable
· The force used must be no greater in effect than needed to achieve the prompt submission of the adversary
· The force used is not otherwise prohibited

The third principle is proportionality. This principle requires commanders to weigh the anticipated loss of civilian life and damage to civilian property reasonably expected to result from an attack against the military advantages expected to be gained.

The principle is a balancing test: if the loss of life or damage to property is clearly excessive compared to the anticipated military advantage, the attack is disproportionate and should not be undertaken. This principle is of great interest to air commanders and war planners, but is perhaps the most important term left explicitly undefined within the treaties and conventions.

These three principles constitute the basis of the Law of Armed Conflict. All military members should be familiar with these principles and how they are applied in real world situations.

The Air Force publication 'Air Force Operations and Law' is a great source of information on LOAC. The publication is available online at http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/wars/a/loac.htm.