OATH OF ENLISTMENT

Many years ago, in 1985, I took the Oath of Enlistment. Here is what it says:

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." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

Notice a few things: the oath is not to the Commander-in-Chief, or the President, or even to the country! The oath is to the Constitution of the United States. Clearly, the oath is for something more than a piece of paper with fancy words that were written and ratified some odd 233 years ago.

The US Constitution is the supreme law of our land. Notwithstanding any flaw, perceived or otherwise, in its text or pretext or application, it is an expression of principles intended to guide the founding generation and every other generation towards an ideal existence. It gives control to the people to amend and modify its contents by specific process to allow this adaptation. In fact, it has been amended 27 times since it was ratified, and hundreds of amendments have been proposed with each Congress.

Amendments to the Constitution protect individual liberties (See 1-3, for example), the administration of justice (See 4-8, for example), reaffirm the limited powers of the federal government (See 9 and 10), and fortunately, to correct or amend original Constitutional text that was clearly contrary to the stated principles and ideals, specifically the 13th, 14th, 15th and19th Amendments (attempting to correct the United States' classification and bad treatment of Black Americans).

It has been Thirty-Six years since I took the the Oath of Enlistment, and those words still ring in my ears. Noticeably absent from the Oath is an end date. It does not state, for as long as I am actively in the military, or anything like that. There are many slogans, memes, and bumper stickers out there that say, "I am a Veteran and My Oath of Enlistment has NO Expiration Date". Me and many of my fellow veterans agree, it is a lifetime commitment.