“arbitraily disarm civilians”
That maybe be very true, but how about an order to detain “Domestic Terrorists” or detain “Those whom lawful court orders have been issued for their arrests”? Would the Marines ask just what those arrests are for or ask exactly what terrorist act they are supposed to have committed? I am more worried about Marines and the like being given false information to solicit their cooperation than I am a direct attack by those in the know. Perhaps a Marine unit could only be fooled once but how many Marines would a tyrannical government go through to ensure they still accomplished their goals? This is where our founding fathers had heartburn about a standing army, not that the army would be complicit but that the army could be fooled, or even extorted, into cooperating with tyrants against the people. Think about if your superiors didn’t stand down but you, an individual Marine, felt otherwise. Could you personally stand down in face of those orders from your superiors? Things get tricky right about then and whose life or property are you about to place at risk if you don’t stand down.
Not to hijack the thread or to detour it but if anything troops will be given instructions that are not very close to the actual situation.
Such as an “eviction notice” and thats in reference to the recent shooting in Texas, as far as I know this guy was harmless, one of those keyboard commandos wanting to live in the macho world of snipers. All he did was aspire to be a sniper, so he posted on snipers forums.
I don’t exactly buy the eviction story, I think some officials were instructed to remove this due in part to internet intel gathering from another agency.
I am just saying that where one posts comments may lead some people to your door.
“.....Could you personally stand down in face of those orders from your superiors? “
Yes, and I have, so it isn’t just conjecture. The trick is in how you do it. Granted as a mere sargeant I was careful about it. “Request Mast.” (Those two words will get you all the way up the Chain of Command to the Commandant with no other explaination.) I also observed others doing that sort of thing when I was in the Corps.
In particular, a WO-4 Warrant Officer that had no qualms about “speaking” to the Commanding General while The CG sat in the O-Club eating his lunch about things the Gunner saw on base that he didn’t like or orders he disagreed with....
Believe me that Marine Gunners, Officers, and NCOs are well aware of US laws restricting the military from domestic law enforcement actions. I wouldn’t be so worried about Marines were I you. I think that applies to the Navy too!
The Army or Air Force???? I don’t know....personally I have always thought that, from what little I know, their culture and customs/traditions were a little odd, so I can’t speak about what they would do.....Wesley Clark and Waco come to mind...... It’s probably just me.