Surrender

Surrender is when soldiers give up fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers.

Prisoners are never to be mistreated or abused. In the United States Army, surrendered persons are to be treated according to the "5 S:s" until turned over to higher authority.

• Silence: so that they cannot plan an escape attempt; gag if necessary.
• Search: for weapons or items of intelligence value.
• Secure: tie up and/or guard carefully at all times, particularly at first.
• Safeguard: do not allow the dangers of the battlefield to hurt them
• Separate: soldiers from officers, men from women, combatants from civilians, to make them easier to control.

See also: War, laws of war, prisoner of war.