The Test is Coming

 

Published in
Apr 7, 2025

The National Security Leaders Notebook

Patrick M. (Mike) Condray, Colonel, USAF (Ret)

This test is coming — and soon.

Within weeks — likely just after the April 20, 2025, deadline for a report on the use of the Insurrection Act — our active duty military will face a nearly impossible choice: uphold their oath to support and defend the Constitution or obey the orders of the President of the United States.

The Oath of Enlistment (USAF version):

“I [state your full name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God (optional).”

But what happens when the President of the United States acts — directly or indirectly — to overthrow the Constitution? What does the oath demand then?

One potential safeguard is embedded in military law itself: regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which explicitly prohibit carrying out unlawful orders. “Just following orders” was no defense at the Nuremberg trials — and that precedent matters.

[skipping a bit]

That is precisely why President Trump recently purged the ranks of senior military leadership. He removed the Judge Advocate Generals, the military lawyers whose job it is to advise on the legality of orders. These firings were not incidental; they were intentional, and they were a warning.

[and further down]:

The buffer is gone.

President Trump has directed his new Secretary of Defense to produce a report on whether it is “appropriate” to invoke the Insurrection Act to use the U.S. military against immigrants or demonstrators. That report is due April 20. Does anyone seriously doubt what Pete Hegseth will tell the President?

I fear for our service members. And I weep for what is about to happen to our Republic.

Make no mistake: President Trump will invoke the Insurrection Act. He will attempt to use the United States military against his perceived enemies.

Read it all at:

https://medium.com/the-national-security-leaders-notebook/the-test-is-coming-883493cd3e6b 

RELATED GRAPHIC (not from that article)

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