[Vision2020] Disobedience to Orders (Was: 126th Engineer Company . . . )

[Tom Hansen]

In the real world, Dave and Garrett, in a real case very similar to the
one you are discussing . . .

Courtesy of the Army Times.

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Army charges 0-5 who refused to deploy

The Army has charged a lieutenant colonel who refused to deploy to
Afghanistan because he questions President Barack Obama’s eligibility to
hold office.

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin is charged with one specification under Article
87, missing movement, and four specifications under Article 92, three
specifications of failure to obey a lawful order and one dereliction of
duty.

Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Lakin is assigned, detailed the
charges brought on April 22 in a statement.

Lakin, a decorated Army flight surgeon, recently posted a YouTube video in
which he said he would not deploy until Obama had released his birth
certificate.

“Any reasonable person looking at the evidence in the public domain would
have questions about President Obama’s claim to be a natural-born
citizen,” Lakin said.

Lakin, 45, if convicted faces forfeiture of pay and benefits, reduction in
rank, prison time and a dishonorable discharge.

The date of Lakin’s preliminary Article 32 hearing has not been set.

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According to the Maximum Punishment Chart (Appendix 12, Manual for
Courts-Martial) . . .

---

Article 87, Uniform Code of Military Justice (Missing Movement) - One
specification

Dishonorable Discharge, 2 years confinement, forfeiture of all pay and
allowances

---

Article 92, UCMJ (Failure to Obey an Order) - Three specifications

Bad Conduct Discharge, 6 months confinement, forfeiture of all pay and
allowances

---

Article 92, UCMJ (Willful Dereliction of Duty) - One specification

Bad Conduct Discharge, Six months confinement, forfeiture of all pay and
allowances

---

LTC Terrence Lakin may be punished up to . . .

Reduction to the lowest enlisted grade (E-1)
Dishonorable Discharge
Four years confinement
Forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

So . . . if you are going to suggest, to the fine soldiers of the 126th
Engineer Company, that they willfully (and through design) miss movement
and disobey orders, you are no better than the scum that suggested the
very same thing to LTC Lakin.

And FYI, Dave, there is a difference between written orders to deploy and
ordering a soldier to commit an unlawful act (Abu Ghraib prison and the My
Lai massacre come to mind).  In Abu Ghraib and My Lai, the soldiers had a
duty NOT to obey those orders., much as the soldiers are duty-bound to
obey the orders to deploy, regardless of their political views.

Enough said.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown