Gavin,
Fortunately that scenario rarely happens. The military is pretty good about weeding out those who do not possess the necessary leadership skills to command troops in combat. Either they get booted out, or they are relegated to administrative, desk jobs.
After WWII, many German officers who were involved in the war atrocities and directly participated in the killing of Jews claimed they were only following orders. To eliminate that excuse from the US military operations, those kinds of orders were considered Unlawful Orders and should not be followed.
After the story of the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam in 1969, Lieutenant William Calley was convicted of killing 22 innocent villagers. Many men in Lt Calleys unit who participated in the killings tried to claim that they were only following orders. Thats when the military began to accelerate the training about what constitutes an Unlawful Order.
In the military you are taught that you do not have to obey an unlawful order made by any superior officer or NCO. That includes the orders to kill innocent people or even enemy combatants who have surrendered. Also included are unlawfull orders for you to participate in exposed human wave attacks, or to surrender your life in some sort of suicidal action.
Yes, there have been incidents US military personnel being involved in following Unlawful orders, or misinterpreting lawful orders and that will probably continue to happen, But the military trains everyone to question clarification of orders that may sound Unlawfulie: Sir, are you ordering me to kill innocent women and children? In nearly all cases, the person giving the order will clarify the order, or at least give second thoughts when they understand how you may have interpreted that order. Then if they say, Yes, I am ordering you to kill innocent women and children, you can refuse to follow that unlawful order without any legal repercussions.
In combat situations, you must entrust your life to the others in your unit as they entrust their lives to you. If you do not trust the people you are with, they will not trust you, and you will probably not survive. A true leader will act to protect the lives of the men he leads and he knows they will protect him.The quickest way to fail in your mission or end up dead is to lose the confidence of your subordinates.
The scenario you outlined is not an unlawful order so you would have to follow the orders even if you thought the guy was an idiot. You also have to consider that, you probably dont have any more knowledge or intelligence about the dangers of the situation than the guy who is ordering you into that situation.You may feel uneasy about it, but thats a good feeling to have when you are in combat and that helps keep you alive.
Most of the situations about following orders given by idiots are in peace-time or non-combat situations. As I previously stated, those kinds of idiots show their lack of leadership early on, and are rarely placed in charge of combat troops. They are most often found in administrative desk jobs where they are less likely to get people killed.
...Rich
Fortunately that scenario rarely happens. The military is pretty good about weeding out those who do not possess the necessary leadership skills to command troops in combat. Either they get booted out, or they are relegated to administrative, desk jobs.
After WWII, many German officers who were involved in the war atrocities and directly participated in the killing of Jews claimed they were only following orders. To eliminate that excuse from the US military operations, those kinds of orders were considered Unlawful Orders and should not be followed.
After the story of the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam in 1969, Lieutenant William Calley was convicted of killing 22 innocent villagers. Many men in Lt Calleys unit who participated in the killings tried to claim that they were only following orders. Thats when the military began to accelerate the training about what constitutes an Unlawful Order.
In the military you are taught that you do not have to obey an unlawful order made by any superior officer or NCO. That includes the orders to kill innocent people or even enemy combatants who have surrendered. Also included are unlawfull orders for you to participate in exposed human wave attacks, or to surrender your life in some sort of suicidal action.
Yes, there have been incidents US military personnel being involved in following Unlawful orders, or misinterpreting lawful orders and that will probably continue to happen, But the military trains everyone to question clarification of orders that may sound Unlawfulie: Sir, are you ordering me to kill innocent women and children? In nearly all cases, the person giving the order will clarify the order, or at least give second thoughts when they understand how you may have interpreted that order. Then if they say, Yes, I am ordering you to kill innocent women and children, you can refuse to follow that unlawful order without any legal repercussions.
In combat situations, you must entrust your life to the others in your unit as they entrust their lives to you. If you do not trust the people you are with, they will not trust you, and you will probably not survive. A true leader will act to protect the lives of the men he leads and he knows they will protect him.The quickest way to fail in your mission or end up dead is to lose the confidence of your subordinates.
The scenario you outlined is not an unlawful order so you would have to follow the orders even if you thought the guy was an idiot. You also have to consider that, you probably dont have any more knowledge or intelligence about the dangers of the situation than the guy who is ordering you into that situation.You may feel uneasy about it, but thats a good feeling to have when you are in combat and that helps keep you alive.
Most of the situations about following orders given by idiots are in peace-time or non-combat situations. As I previously stated, those kinds of idiots show their lack of leadership early on, and are rarely placed in charge of combat troops. They are most often found in administrative desk jobs where they are less likely to get people killed.
...Rich
