Thank you for your service.
Did you ever say you wouldn't follow the orders of a commanding officer because someone else was due to take over or you simply did not agree?
I ask because I'm curious as to how you view the refusal of the majority in the senate to follow through on their constitutional duty to offer advice and consent when President Obama offered a nominee for the Supreme Court.
Your posts point toward a belief in law and order and your sense of duty to this Country and the Constitution. How do you square this total disregard of the law by those
SWORN to uphold it?
While reading , I saw this potential solution -
::
:: or get off the pot. In otherwords , the Senate has a given amount of time to act , and if they don't it's considered a waiver of their power , allowing the President to move forward with an appointment.
I will answer honestly - (The military oath we swore to uphold is on-line to read) I took the oath prior to basic training at San Diego in 1962. I was 17 years old and I remember it being the proudest day of my life. All of a sudden I knew what being an American was all about. I remembered that a cousin died at the Normandy invasion. I remembered my brother who fought in Korea in '51-'52. I remembered another cousin who fought at Iwo Jima. Now it was my turn to serve my country. I wasn't a kid anymore. My Dad died when I was 12, so I was doing this for him, too. I could not and would not fail. It was a turning point in my life.
A short time after taking the oath, I asked what a lot of other "boots" were thinking, too. "If we are ordered to do something that seems like it will get us killed - can we suggest another plan?" We were told the oath is simple, straightforward and direct. You WILL do as ordered by your superiors and the President. To NOT do so is cowardice, treason, dereliction of duty or desertion, depending on circumstances, all covered in the UCMJ Article 99. I was then told a quote that pretty much covered it all "in a nutshell". "Your DUTY is not to question why, but simply to do or die". I didn't find out till years later where that quote came from, but it has always stuck with me as to what DUTY stands for. That is exactly what USN "Chief" Owens of Seal Team 6 and his team-mates did in Yemen on Jan 29. They know danger (it was Ryan Owens' 12th deployment to the war zone) and they know DUTY. Being former Navy myself, I understand their commitment to duty and country and even more, their commitment to their fellow team members. They are family.
Getting back to your questions - No, I did not EVER question any of my superiors (at least not vocally) In my mind, I may have had some doubts - but I always followed orders. It has to be that way in the military, or the whole chain of command will break down. Missions will fail, people will needlessly die. Military commanders cannot sit around and argue and play political games like politicians do for months at a time. When an opportunity to hit the enemy comes up - it has to be done quickly using the best people to do the job. On Jan 29 - SEAL Team 6 was chosen to hit Yemen. They are the best of the best, but they each know every mission could be their last. They did what they swore to do in that oath.
As for the members of our Congress (House and Senate), they too take an oath (which also is on-line to read). They swear to : "defend the Constitution against all Enemies foreign and domestic" - "will bear true faith and allegiance" will do so "without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion" and "will faithfully discharge my duties".
In my humble opinion a very large portion of Congressional members are guilty of dereliction of duty. Yes, they are allowed to question and debate, but when they question the results of an election, question the legality of the Electoral System, intentionally try to undermine a new President, refuse to attend government functions, allow a former President (Obama) to sabotage his replacement by "leaking" confidential information to his "insiders" before leaving office, (then these "insiders" attempting to impeach a sitting president), illegally allowing these "leakers" to pass secret or confidential info on to hostile "news" outlets knowing the "news" outlets will not divulge the source, claiming 1st amendment confidentiality rights, then trying to discredit every member of a new president's cabinet choices with "gotcha" questions that are then used out of context to further stall and destroy our government - then THAT and many other things that are now going on are just political warfare by the Democrats designed to destroy the sitting President, his cabinet and his agenda. This is directly against what they swore to do when they took the oath.
THEY have become the "domestic enemies" of the American people - by blocking the elected president's attempt to do anything.
THEY are not bearing true faith and allegience.
THEY ARE using "mental reservation and evasion" for political reasons in their attempt to destroy a president and regain power.
and THEY ARE NOT faithfully discharging their duties when they refuse to attend some official debates and hearings and they instead listen to their POLITICAL LEADERS (Schumer - Pelosi) when told to "sit on their hands" and "do not stand" and simply oppose everything - to stall and hopefully destroy a sitting legally elected president and his cabinet.
According to what
I was told when I took MY oath in 1962. an intentional refusal to abide by my oath was an act of treason, dereliction of duty and everything else in the UCMJ Art. 99, punishable by death, prison or dishonorable discharge.
Now the members of Congress can selectively choose to ignore their oath simply because their political party lost the last election? Remember these people at the next election - write, call or e-mail them now.
