Quote Originally Posted by jmm99 View Post
Without downloading the entire MCM .pdf (which would be a good idea, though), that Manual's text is here. Your example is not an unlawful general order:



http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punit...es/a/mcm92.htm

The GEN may have read the article by the Marine SGT and decided to lighten up his infantry. The GEN has no obligation to explain his general orders to an LT. Your option is to protest the order up the chain.

Please note there is a very gray and limited exception:
That is a very limited and legalistic way to look at it. As a commander, at any level, I reserve the right to disobey any "order" I choose to, based on two criteria.

First, do I think it is a "moral" order. Screw what's legal. If I reasonably expect that the order will result in an immoral result, I'll tell the CoC to sit and spin and force them to relieve me. I would then fight them tooth and claw with every weapon at my disposal, up to and including the court of public opinion, if General Moron forces me to.

Second, as the commander on the ground, I have the power to disobey any order I don't agree with for tactical or technical reasons. Unfortunately, the JAG-driven, risk-averse micro-manager types have lost sight of what constitutes "command". If I am a commander, you can give me a mission, but you cannot necessarily give me "orders". (See "Major Dundee" the movie, for an illustration).

Of course, once a commander chooses to maximize his/her command perogative, he/she must dig the Sicilian equivalent two graves.... Because the consequences will probably leave a mark.