Loyalty
Loyalty
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Does our Oath ever expire? Our we still held to it after the military? What if an amendment were added to removed from the Constitution? Would you be required to uphold your original oath? I don't forsee this happening any time soon. It's just 3 am and I can't sleep.....
Constitution
Loyalty
Oath Keepers
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 50
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Cpl Dave D I can relate to your dilemma. I have many blog postings written at "Oh-dark-thirty". The frequency is increasing as we drop deeper into the abyss of progressive interpretations of our Constitution and their shenanigans. So, let's answer your question and get you back to bed so that you can catch up on your beauty sleep.
Your Oath of Enlistment or Commissioning is not enforceable in and of itself. (Can you imagine what would happen if politicians could be held accountable to their oaths which have similiar declarations?) It is merely a declaration that you voluntarily submit yourself to the provisions of the UCMJ so long as you serve. Technically, you remain obligated to that service until discharged.
Morally and ethically, many veterans consider themselves bound by their promise to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, for life. However, that is a personal choice, an honorable choice, the choice of a citizen who recognizes that America is not defined by a land mass, but rather by principles codified in the Constitution. We may pledge allegiance to symbols of the Republic, but in actuality, without the Constitution and dedicated observance of it, there is no nation. It seems that service members and veterans understand this better than most. Sadly, the sum total of those who serve or have served is a scant minority of the nation and the proportion of those who have not learned these same lessons are growing exponentially with every passing generation.
Your Oath of Enlistment or Commissioning is not enforceable in and of itself. (Can you imagine what would happen if politicians could be held accountable to their oaths which have similiar declarations?) It is merely a declaration that you voluntarily submit yourself to the provisions of the UCMJ so long as you serve. Technically, you remain obligated to that service until discharged.
Morally and ethically, many veterans consider themselves bound by their promise to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, for life. However, that is a personal choice, an honorable choice, the choice of a citizen who recognizes that America is not defined by a land mass, but rather by principles codified in the Constitution. We may pledge allegiance to symbols of the Republic, but in actuality, without the Constitution and dedicated observance of it, there is no nation. It seems that service members and veterans understand this better than most. Sadly, the sum total of those who serve or have served is a scant minority of the nation and the proportion of those who have not learned these same lessons are growing exponentially with every passing generation.
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PO3 David Burkett
PO3 David Burkett - "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."
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SGT (Join to see)
PO3 David Burkett UCMJ only applies if I'm on duty. The part about the oath and my duties in regards to the Constitution never expire.
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HN Connie DÂûgherty
SGT (Join to see)
Agreed. Granted, once we take our discharge, we no longer have officers appointed over us, and thus are no longer bound to THAT segment, but, there is no other language within our oath that gives a date upon which we are released from our obligation to support and defend the Constitution from ALL enemies foreign and domestic.
Agreed. Granted, once we take our discharge, we no longer have officers appointed over us, and thus are no longer bound to THAT segment, but, there is no other language within our oath that gives a date upon which we are released from our obligation to support and defend the Constitution from ALL enemies foreign and domestic.
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CPT Jack Durish
SGT (Join to see) - I would love to sit down and have a beer with you and just listen to you talk. I suspect that it would be a wonderful adventure akin to Alice's Looking Glass World. Your comment in this class reflects my own and yet it is a kind of backwards reflection. Stay safe. These are dangerous times...
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HN Connie DÂûgherty
Sgt John Dolan Legally, you are correct.
Morally, ethically, and for those of us who believe in it, biblically we are bound to our oath so long as we live because there was no date given upon which it ends.
Officially, we no longer have officers appointed over us, and therefore we no longer fall under this requirement nor are subject to the regulations/jurisdiction of the UCMJ. But we are, again, morally and ethically bound to our oath regarding the protection and support of the Constitution.
Morally, ethically, and for those of us who believe in it, biblically we are bound to our oath so long as we live because there was no date given upon which it ends.
Officially, we no longer have officers appointed over us, and therefore we no longer fall under this requirement nor are subject to the regulations/jurisdiction of the UCMJ. But we are, again, morally and ethically bound to our oath regarding the protection and support of the Constitution.
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Sgt John Dolan
HN Connie DÂûgherty - legalities supersede morality. Officially, legally, morally, or ethically, we are under no obligation to honor an expired oath.
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Suspended Profile
A1C S.T. Hege - Do you remember having to take the oath again at every re-enlistment?
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Cpl Dave D
Technically it expires once our enlistments/commissions are up. BUT, as Capt Seid Waddell says, our Oath never expires. It is our duty to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC.
Technically it expires once our enlistments/commissions are up. BUT, as Capt Seid Waddell says, our Oath never expires. It is our duty to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC.
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Sgt John Dolan
Sgt Robin O'Connell - if you didn’t renew your vows you’d still be married but if you didn’t re-enlist and swear an oath again your enlistment would end when your contract did. Taking the oath again upon re-enlistment is a requirement and not a custom to remind you of the oath you first took. Is someone going to come around every four years or so once you’re out to remind you of the oath you first took? No, of country not.
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SSgt Ted Welch
Sgt John Dolan - Careful with absolutes, I re-enlisted without needing to retake the oath. It was just a paperwork event. I figure you are good once you have taken the oath, no need to reaffirm it and it does not expire in ethical terms.
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Sgt John Dolan
The contract we sign binds us to our oath not ethics, and that contract we sign and the oath we took both expire when the contract does. You can figure and pretend but legally it ends, that doesn’t mean you, personally, can’t still adhere to it if you so choose but you aren’t legally bound to.
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Suspended Profile
The oath ends. What you are describing is your commitment to your intentions when you took the oath. The oath ends but in many cases the commitment doesn't.
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