Legal Question in Military Law in Washington

Re: Lawful or Unlawful? Orders in the military

The order is probably lawful in that it, at least tangentially, could be related to a legitimate military interest, curbing drunk driving among military members. Remember that the default rule is that orders are lawful until they are ruled unlawful. But the fact that the entire command, regardless of driving status, age, or rank seems a bit extreme. Refusing to complete the assignment will most likely not result in a court-martial but will skyline you for the next “voluntary” mission of the unit. Maybe you could write a letter to the fictional parents about how you were driven to the bottle by the overbearing command climate. Or write about a certain Master Chief who would routinely provide alcohol to underage members of the command and then encourage them to drive while intoxicated. Better yet post your version of the letter here. Good Luck

Re: Lawful or Unlawful? Orders in the military

In the military orders are presumed to be lawful. An order is violated or disregarded at the persons "peril."

The order must relate to a military duty or purpose; and it must not invade into a "private" life.

A program of training and educated directed toward reducing alcohol related incidents would be a legitimate military purpose. As part of that I can see where certain types of written exercises could be used to drive home (excuse the pun) the message about the potential consequences of drunk driving. That is so, whether or not the person is a driver.

In principle I doubt whether a court would find the order your describe as unlawful.

You can go to http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov to reach the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces website. Look for a case called U.S. v. New. That will give you a good idea of this issue.

Some might say the MC has not come up with the best approach, but I doubt they would say it's unlawful.

Sincerely, www.court-martial.com

Re: Lawful or Unlawful? Orders in the military

The order given is lawful because it does not require you to commit an unlawful act and facilitates a valid military training purpose. Disobeying the order would be insubordination for which appropriate military punishment could be meted out.

Even though you disagree with the training purpose, write the letter, but don't settle for writing a generic one. Write a really great letter expressing remorse. It's a chance to turn a bad exercise into a chance for some brownie points. And that never hurts.

Regards,

Re: Lawful or Unlawful? Orders in the military

It may not a lawful order as to non-drinkers and non-drivers. In order to be lawful, the order must have a valid military purpose. There is no valid military purpose apparent for non-drinkers, particularly, unless it's to improve writing skills. And that's not what the Master Chief says it's for. It sounds like a form of unlawful and useless harassment, designed to win the Master Chief brownie points with the Skipper. If it were given as an assignment to someone who was determined to have committed a DUI, either out in town or on base, it would be valid because it's tailored to a specifically identified problem area with that specific person. To make non-drinkers or non-drivers do it takes time away from mission-related work and is totally counterproductive. I'd fight it if I were a non-drinker or non-driver. I'd call the local newspaper or TV station and make the Chief famous in a way he won't like.