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View Full Version : This is new to me... (military coup)




silverhandorder
04-02-2009, 07:48 AM
Apparently military can not hold a coup no matter what if they want to stay true to the constitution. The guy that told me this used to be in the army. He says that the part of the oath that some one swears is to uphold the constitution, he also swears to follow the chain of command.

Apparently if you are given an unconstitutional order and you still have to follow it. You can get it in writing to protect your ass against court martial but still have to do it.

pcosmar
04-02-2009, 07:53 AM
Apparently military can not hold a coup no matter what if they want to stay true to the constitution. The guy that told me this used to be in the army. He says that the part of the oath that some one swears is to uphold the constitution, he also swears to follow the chain of command.

Apparently if you are given an unconstitutional order and you still have to follow it. You can get it in writing to protect your ass against court martial but still have to do it.

Nope, You can refuse an unlawful order. You have just better be right.
You can also arrest/detain the one giving such an order. But once again, you better be right.

You will be called on it.

robertwerden
04-02-2009, 08:07 AM
True. Im ex military and they teach you that in boot camp. The thinking process is a rouge commanding officer or senior enlisted person may decide to do something illegal and it is your responsibility to recognize whats legal and not, and do what is legal. They say that if you do take command you need to report to who ever is next in the chain of command and then inform them you have relieved your commander and why.

For the most part this never happens at the field level, but there have been soldiers in the Iraq war who are taking the stand against the president.

In the case of martial law or an order is given to secure civilians inside the USA, we will see lots of order refusals, but for the most part soldiers are trained and brainwashed. It all depends on what exactly is ordered. The National guard will probably have no issues, but if the army or marines are activated they will know something is wrong.