The enlisted oath of enlistment (slightly different than the oath for officers) includes the phrase “obey the orders of the president of the US and the orders of the officers appointed over me…according to regulations and the UCMJ”
The officer oath of office does not include this phrase or any mention of the president.
The reason for this is that military officers have to be able to decide for themselves what is a lawful order from their superiors and to be able to take the country back from a corrupt President/government. They need to be able to think independently if the orders are not lawful. The Law of War Manual helps fill in the blanks for why you want an apolitical military that will do the correct thing if a corrupt government is installed. (I believe I have this correct - I've been out a long time and since I got out after 5 years, I didn't learn everything I would need to know about handling a fraudulent/corrupt president as a junior officer!)
The enlisted oath of enlistment (slightly different than the oath for officers) includes the phrase “obey the orders of the president of the US and the orders of the officers appointed over me…according to regulations and the UCMJ”
The officer oath of office does not include this phrase or any mention of the president.
Thanks
The reason for this is that military officers have to be able to decide for themselves what is a lawful order from their superiors and to be able to take the country back from a corrupt President/government. They need to be able to think independently if the orders are not lawful. The Law of War Manual helps fill in the blanks for why you want an apolitical military that will do the correct thing if a corrupt government is installed. (I believe I have this correct - I've been out a long time and since I got out after 5 years, I didn't learn everything I would need to know about handling a fraudulent/corrupt president as a junior officer!)
Apparently there is a lot about this that is classified. Created when they envisioned the possibility during the 50s Communism scares.