The Oath of Enlistment (Last Forever)

"I, _____, 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."

    I’ve repeated this oath four times in my life; I did it voluntarily and with pride.  I always felt the first part [support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic] was the meat of the oath, the part that spoke to me.  The part that explained why I was enlisting.  That being said I found the teeth of the oath in the next to the last sentence [according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice].  As an enlisted member you are not free to blindly follow orders, in fact just the opposite.  As an enlisted member you are duty bound to report to military or civil authorities any activity that could bring discredit upon or do harm to our nation. 

   

    Enter the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund. This group is one of a handful of groups of special operations veterans formed in the past few months that criticize the president.  Special Ops OPSEC's 22-minute video has been sited for selective editing (as if that never happens in political advertisements…).  "I directed." Spoken by President Obama is one of the key elements of the controversy but given the narcissistic view of himself he may have liked it more if it was longer than 25 seconds, President Obama should expect it to be repeated again and again (he loves to use “I, Me and Myself when he speaks).  But ultimately the group uses the remaining 21.5 minutes trying to report activities they perceive could bring discredit upon or do harm to our nation, the security leaks within the administration.  I had written a little bit on that in a previous Blog (Let me get that for you, May 11, 2012).  Being Mr. Obama is the President they only have one option on who to report their concerns to…

The American Public. 

    

    This brings me to General Dempsey (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and his resent comments about the activities of the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund.

General Dempsey (as reported on Aug. 22, 2012)

"One of the things that marks us as a profession in a democracy is it's most important we remain apolitical," he said. "That's how we maintain our trust with the American people. The American people don't want us to become another special interest group. In fact, I think that confuses them." Dempsey said he believes partisan groups made up of former service members cloud the issue as well. "If someone uses the uniform for partisan politics, I'm disappointed in that," he said. "I think it erodes that bond of trust we have with the American people."        

   

    I on the other hand view the groups’ activities as a clarifying and informative rebuttal to an otherwise compliant and equally partisan national media.  Precisely because of the military and intelligence background of the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund members, their input as civilians to the national leadership debate should be welcomed and considered.  I found the video very informative on the need for operational/Intel security and the consequences of failing to maintain operational/Intel security.  Remember there was a doctor in Pakistan that assisted us in locating OBL.  What did he get for his efforts?  A 33-year prison sentence…  A lack of operational/Intel security cost the liberty or even the lives of those involved.         

    I find this a bit confusing.  General Dempsey is making open comments about a civilian organization faithfully exercising it’s 1^st amendment rights in a legal manner yet there was a complete absence of him speaking out against the wearing of the uniform by active duty members during the gay pride parade in San Diego in July 2012.  Or the DNC’s call for a gay soldier and fellow (straight) soldier who served together in Iraq or Afghanistan (ideally the straight soldier was helped by the gay soldier, i.e., medic, in fire fight) to stand as human props on stage at the up-coming Democratic National Convention (scheduled for Sep. 4, 2012).  Both activities are special interest and partisan political…  Normally active duty members would be barred from wearing the uniform while participation in either event.  Who is really eroding the bond of trust?  When an officer cherry picks what rules he will enforce and rules he will ignore, his subordinates will cherry pick what rules they will follow and what rules they won’t…  

Been there, Seen it, Have the T-shirt…

I saw this little line and thought it fit nicely.

Grumpy old vets can say and do things from the outside

that cranky old NCOs can't do from the inside.

The TOMCAT     

Visit Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund web site to see video.

22 minutes well spent

http://www.opsecteam.org/index.html