What is a Veteran? Part 2

Part two in an ongoing series highlighting veterans in general and specific veterans.

Oath of enlistment

I, (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.

Oath of office (commissioned officers)

I, (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; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Neither oath has an expiration date.

Here is some food for thought. Despite the assertion made by many – many who have never served, by the way – that enlisted people are poor, uneducated fools who lack the intelligence or skills to find non-military work, U.S. enlisted men and women have to be bright enough to understand their oath out of the box. They swear to obey the orders of the President and officers appointed over them, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This means that they are required, by oath and law, to know and understand the difference between lawful and unlawful orders.

This requires sophisticated cognitive and reasoning skills. Think about it for a while. If you’ve never served, do you think you could honestly swear that oath and live up to it?