Editor's Pick

When Not to Obey Orders
During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, a Prussian officer defended himself from reprimand by arguing that he was simply following orders. His commander, Prince Frederick Charles, reportedly replied: “His Majesty made you a Major because he believed you would know when not to obey his orders.” It’s a simple vignette, but the question that it raises is anything but simple: When should a military officer disobey orders? I have always believed that those who answer, “only when those orders are illegal,” have probably not thought hard enough about the question. An officer’s oath of office, professional ethics, and obligation to subordinates may at times require him to dispute or even disobey a legal order.

Published in the Joint Forces Quarterly, the article elicited what I can only describe as a storm of protest from civilian academics and political pundits who perceived it as a wholesale challenge to the concept of civilian control of the military. Richard Kohn of the University of North Carolina excoriated the article, writing, “It should be assigned in every military school from pre-commissioning through Capstone so that it can be exposed for what it is: an attack on military professionalism that would unhinge the armed forces of the United States.” Although flattered, I noted he had missed my point completely. Admitting that military officers have moral autonomy and the obligation to act according to their conscience is not the same as granting them the license to do so free of consequences. The risk to career and reputation involved in such decisions means they will never be taken lightly.

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