Corporal (pronounced kawr-per-uhl or kaw-pruhl)
(1) Of the human body; bodily; physical
(2) In zoology, of the body proper, as distinguished from the head and limbs.
(3) As corporeal, belonging to the material world (mostly obsolete except for historic references although still used as a technical term in philosophy).
(4) In ecclesiastical accoutrements, a fine cloth, usually of linen, on which the consecrated elements are placed or with which they are covered during the Eucharist (also called the communion cloth).
(5) In Christian theology, as the seven Corporal Works of Mercy, the practical acts of compassion, as distinct from the seven Spiritual Works (the contemplative acts).
(6) In military use, a non-commissioned officer ranking above lance corporal (private first class (PFC) in US Army) and below a sergeant; in the Royal Navy, a petty officer who assists the master-at-arms; similar use in the armed services of many countries.
1350–1400: From the Middle English corporall, from the Anglo-French corporall, from the Latin corporālis (bodily, of the body) from corpus (body), the construct being corpor- (stem of corpuscorpus) + -ālis (the third-declension two-termination suffix (neuter -āle), used to form adjectives of relationship from nouns or numerals, from the primitive Indo-European -li-, which later dissimilated into an early version of -aris). The use describing alter cloths was derived from the Medieval Latin corporāle pallium eucharistic (altar cloth) and replaced corporas, itself inherited from Classical Latin under the influence of Old French.
The strategic corporal
The
idea of the “strategic corporal” was first explained in a paper published in
1999 by USMC (US Marine Corps) General Charles Krulak (b 1942). Based on both practical experience and his
analysis of the likely evolution of conflicts into localized, small-scale but
intense theatres of operation, he described what he called the “three block war”
in which the Marines could be involved in conventional fire-fights, peacekeeping
operations and humanitarian aid, all conduced in a geographical area no bigger
than three city blocks and undertaken either sequentially or, more
challengingly, simultaneously and in an environment in which hostile, friendly
& neutral forces are intermeshed. The
reference to the “three city blocks” was included for didactic purposes to
illustrate his point that the training of military personnel needed to be refined
better to encompass those required to make independent decisions, including the
non-commissioned officers (NCOs) & junior officers actually commanding small
numbers of troops on the ground. Just as
the term “three blocks” wasn’t a literal limitation but a way of illustrating a
change of mindset from the traditional focus on divisional & brigade level
deployment, the phrase “strategic corporal” was chosen because in the military
that is the lowest rank at which a soldier is in command of others and thus in
a position to make decisions which could have some strategic significance. Typically, a “strategic corporal” might be a lieutenant
who in modern warfare, must be trained to make major decisions without the
benefit of direction from the chain of command.
The
concept has been influential in many militaries and has been compared with the
idea of the “man on the ground” doctrine which emerged in the nineteenth
century when the early technologies of long-distance communication meant that
for the first time it was practical for military commanders in remote locations
to seek and receive instructions from perhaps thousands of miles away. It would however be decades before those
interactions habitually became real-time so the idea of the “strategic corporal”
would not then have been unfamiliar and there was an at least tacit
acknowledgement that the man on the ground would often be the one making critical
decisions rather than anyone in the high command or even the headquarters staff
in theatre. This could of course mean a
bad decision could theoretically trigger a war but as "the Fashoda Incident" (1898 and the retrospective re-naming of what was at the time in Paris and
London thought of as “the Fashoda Crisis”) illustrated, the man on the ground having
the necessary background and training to make a decision based on factors
beyond what was militarily possible could have far-reaching consequences.
So
the idea of the strategic corporal is that training in such matters needs to
extend to the layers of command where such decisions need to be made, not to
the point at which formerly they’re delegated or devolved. In a sense that of course is a mere
recognition of reality but the elevation of the concept into a doctrine has
been criticized as becoming “mythologized within the military culture [and] forever
associated with negative consequences”, the result of the ultimate responsibility
for decisions being seen through legal filters, leaders now too “…concerned
with the perceived risk..” and as a means to manage that “…senior leaders have
elevated decision authorities far away from anyone but themselves”.
Military
analysts have noted that military operations conducted in the Gaza Strip
provide the perfect example of a “three block war”, one that has the potential
to unfold as a series of “three block” theatres. In these urban environments in which a
civilian population co-exists still in high-density with paramilitary forces
and irregular combatants, decisions taken by a soldier in direct command of
fewer than a dozen troops in the invading army can have a strategic
significance well beyond the particular three blocks in which they’re operating.
Complicating this is the suspicion
expressed by some that a high civilian death-toll is actually an outcome desired
by the Hamas (Hamas the acronym of the Arabic
حركة المقاومة
الإسلامية (Ḥarakah
al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah) (Islamic Resistance Movement); HMS glossed in
the Hamas Covenant (1998) by the Arabic word ḥamās
(حماس) (which translates variously as “strength”,
“zeal” or “bravery”)). The evidence to
support this is strong in that the nature of the attack staged by the Hamas on
Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023 was of such a nature that retaliation by
the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) would be bound to result in civilian causalities in
Gaza; there are not effective alternative military tactics available, the
choices being only to retaliate or not.
The
idea used by Hamas is not new. In 1942,
the Czechoslovak government-in-exile (which in 1940 had shifted from Paris to
London), had become especially disturbed by the success SS-Obergruppenführer (general)
Reinhard Heydrich (1904–1942; head of the Reich Security Main Office 1939-1942)
was enjoying as Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, a role in which he was
effectively the Nazi’s “governor of Czechoslovak”. Using the Nazi’s tradition method of governing
conquered territories by “carrot & stick” Heydrich had not spared the stick
early in his administration (1941-1942) but been remarkably successful with the
inducements he offered and had achieved an unexpectedly high degree of
cooperation with the local population.
With little signs of an effective resistance movement operating, the government
in exile took the decision, in cooperation with the British Special Operations
Executive (SOE), to send an assassination squad to Prague, knowing full well
the retribution against the population would be severe but the object was to
use that to stimulate local resistance.
More than a thousand Czechs were killed in revenge for Heydrich’s death.
So in the awful business of war, civilian deaths can be thought of as useful political devices, something which in Islamic theology is regarded as the noble sacrifice of martyrdom. The Hamas, having concluded (not unreasonably) that 75 years on, the leaders of many Arab states had tired of the Palestinian “problem” and were moving on, regarding the Jewish state as a permanent part of the region’s political geography with the advantages of détente greater than those of conflict, needed to be back on the agenda. The Hamas understand a resort to diplomacy is unlikely much to influence the Arab rulers but the spilling of Muslim blood at the hands of the IDF will bring protest to the streets in the region and beyond. This of course makes inevitable that when the strategic corporals proceed, however cautiously, through the rubble of Gaza’s blocks, they’ll be encouraged by their opponents to make decisions and these decisions can have consequences which ripple far and perhaps for a generation. What one strategic corporal decides to do really does matter. By comparison, most of the statements and resolutions, issued or passed by politicians, ex-politicians and other worthies around the planet will be noted with equal interest by those in Tel Aviv, the Hamas to the south, the Hezbollah to the north, the Ayatollahs to the east and the fish to the west.
Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
The Bible reduces the New Testament’s conception of mercy to seven practical (corporal) and seven spiritual (contemplative) acts, each said to be a virtue influencing one's will to have compassion for, and, if possible, ameliorate another's misfortune. Italian Dominican friar & philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) thought that although mercy is, as it were, the spontaneous product of charity, it must be thought a special virtue adequately distinguishable from its effects. Later theologians noted its motive is the misery which one discerns in another, particularly in so far as this condition is deemed to be, in some sense at least, involuntary but even if not, the necessity is to offer succor of either body or soul.
Corporal works of mercy
To feed the hungry
To give drink to the thirsty
To clothe the naked
To harbor the harborless
To visit the sick
To ransom the captive
To bury the dead
Spiritual works of mercy
To instruct the ignorant
To admonish sinners
To bear wrongs patiently
To forgive offences willingly
To comfort the afflicted
To pray for the living and the dead
To counsel the doubtful
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
***
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Tony Abbott (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2013-2015) visited Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023) in prison (a corporal work of mercy). In this act, come Judgement Day, he will be found to have acted righteously.
Pope Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013) didn't visit Cardinal Pell in prison but did remember him in his prayers (a spiritual work of mercy). In this act, come Judgement Day, he will be found to have acted righteously.
Lindsay Lohan 6126 wool blend military coat in black.
Military uniforms have long influenced fashion and in the 1960s, the counter culture adopted them with some sense of irony. Camouflage patterns have always been popular but the dress uniforms are also used as a model, the insignia, sometimes in elaborated form added as embellishments. The insignia of a corporal is a two-bar chevron, depicted variously upwards or downwards, depending on the service.
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