• By joining the military, you must accept that you can be lawfully ordered into dangerous places.

• You must also accept that you may be exposed to, or be likely to suffer harm from a variety of causes.

• These might include physical harm, including death, injury, ill health, capture and imprisonment

• There are also non-physical forms of harm, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, being subjected to trial in case of wrong-doing, as well as possibly having a troubled conscience about things which occurred during your service.

• You may be separated from your family and friends for long periods of time.

• You may have other rights, such as freedom of speech, curtailed for security reasons.

• However, your fundamental human rights are not affected and the state has a duty to look after you as far as the circumstances make possible.

See Queen of Diamonds

Patrick Mileham, ‘Unlimited Liability and the Military Covenant’, Journal of Military Ethics, 9 (2010), p30.