Posted on 04/04/2013 6:03:27 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
Stand on one side or the other.
I’ve held similar positions. Yes, many of them are kids and accidents happen. No, not all orders might be lawful but that is where proper training, retraining, and making sure that the other officers and NCOs have a complete understanding of the laws, the Constitution, military law and the laws of war. If you don’t feel that is possible then you shouldn’t be a commander, much less an officer.
If you won’t refuse to carry out an unlawful order or take all action as a commander or senior NCO to prevent the action on an unlawful order then again, you have been promoted beyond your level of incompetence.
I spent a multi-service career as a young NCO and as an officer. I never had any doubt about any of the troops, officers, or senior NCOs I served with other than a few colonels and a number of generals who were all political animals. Those types could have issued any unlawful order they wanted to but they would not have been obeyed.
I am still in contact with a lot of younger troops and I’ll tell you that they are mature enough and they, ONCE AGAIN, are not robots who will snap to, heil der Fuehrer and begin firing. We trust them to carry the load in places like AF and they meet and exceed the expectations.
“Those types could have issued any unlawful order they wanted to but they would not have been obeyed.”
Again, no one will tell the troops directly to fire on innocent Americans, no one. What they will do and what the troops will obey are orders to attack a “domestic terrorist” or a “militia of KKK”. They will attack, every bit as much as any other incident in American history has proven they will attack. The people of Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union were no different than today’s younger people in uniform and those two countries found out how to manipulate those troops into compliance with unlawful orders. They snap-to to todays orders and they will snap-to to tomorrows orders just as well.
I agree fully, and that is precisely why 0bama is specifically questioning potential Generals and Admirals about this very question. These same Generals and Admirals decide who gets promoted. 0bama does not want anyone who upholds The Constitution or honors their oath.
Unfortunately true of most of the senior officers BUT, they are once again not at the point of the sword leading the way like a Joshua Chamberlain or a Chesty Puller. They are the “manager” executive officers who rarely have led troops directly into battle. The officers and NCOs on the line are the ones who provide the real leadership and direction to the line troops who pull the trigger. Leaders lead people to accomplish a mission, general officers overwhelmingly are managers of programs and their own careers with no direct ties to the line forces. McClelland thought that he could do what he wanted because he believed that the soldiers were loyal to him. He found out that he was wrong. Unlawful orders from them would mostly be ignored if not outright opposed. The 7-days in May scenario was just that, fiction and even the admirals rebellion against Truman was quickly put down.
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