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I administered the oath of enlistment many times. (The division recruiting officer was rarely around when one of his "clients" arrived to sign the contract and reup. So his NCO brought the young men to me to be sworn in.) I was often tempted to stop them to see if they were really listening to themselves as they repeated the words I recited to them. Did they really understand that they were swearing to "support, protect, and defend the Constitution"? Not the nation. Not the people. Rather a document, the very soul of America. Did they even know what the Constitution is? What it says? What it means? Having studied the law, I know there are subtleties in its provisions such as the delegation of "war powers". However, it's fair to ask questions such as this officer is doing when you aren't sure. Of course, a law suit is far different than raising your hand in class. Still, we who sweat the oath to the Constitution should ask when in doubt, shouldn't we? Sadly, now that civics has been stripped from our schools and the Constitution is reviled by teachers and professors, I am certain that it is a meaningless oath to most who join today. Sad, isn't it?

Copy of the Civil action - https://law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/Public_Affairs/smithvobama.pdf