Can soldiers legally abandon their post if they feel they have been given illegal orders?

1st General Order

"I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved."

2nd General Order

"I will obey my special orders and perform all of my duties in a military manner."

3rd General Order

"I will report violations of my special orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in my instructions, to the commander of the relief." [1]

It seems unlikely to me that someone would find him/herself in a situation where their special orders are so unlawful that refusal to obey them would require violating the First General Order. If, for example, you are on duty in a guard tower and someone orders you to fire on unarmed civilians, you are required to disobey such a blatantly criminal order. But refusing to shoot civilians is not the same thing as abandoning your post, and the unlawful order would not give you immunity were you to do so.

However, if such a situation did occur, it would be the moral responsibility of the soldier to refuse the unlawful order, even if doing so might result in unfavorable action against the soldier or even court martial. This dilemma is usually considered to fall under the moral aspect of "Personal Courage" in the Army Values. [2]

But again, abandoning one's post is a huge violation, and I cannot imagine any situation that would warrant it. Doing so would endanger your comrades, and that usually trumps any other moral consideration.

The time to decide that you are going to have yourself arrested for disobeying an order (because that is how it's going to go down; don't kid yourself) is not when you are on duty and potentially facing a hostile threat. You do it when there is plenty of time to find someone else to take your shift. Otherwise you're also facing charges for abandoning your post and probably cowardice.

Thanks for the A2A.

Footnotes

[1] 3 General Orders

[2] Army Values

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