Rules of Engagement was Re: [extropy-chat] Re: Meta: Too far

[The Avantguardian]

--- Brett Paatsch <bpaatsch at bigpond.net.au> wrote:

> Which is supposed to have precedence in a conflict,
> a direct order
> from a superior, or the rules of engagement? I'd
> have though the
> second.

Well that depends on who that superior is and the
situation at hand. ROE are usually written at the
theater or strategic levels. Really high ranking
officers make them up. So if a captain at the tactical
level orders a soldier to break them, the soldier
usually realizes that the ROE would take precedence
because they come from a brigadier general at least.
Moreover if the captain was a lunatic ordering the
slaughter of innocents for no good reason, there are
provisions in the UCMJ that the unit medic no matter
how low of a rank, could judge the captain to be
medically unfit for command and relieve him of duty.
But of course it depends on the situation. If for
example, the ROE would hamstring a unit such that they
could not follow them and survive, the typical soldier
would follow his captain's orders to break them,
knowing that the captain would take responsibility for
it himself after it was all over with. In a war almost
nothing is clear cut and certain and one does one's
best to accomplish objectives and if possible survive. 

The Avantguardian 
is 
Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"The surest sign of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven't attempted to contact us." 
-Bill Watterson

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