Comment: Moral Basis

I think you are going to have to figure out where your moral basis lies. There can be noble purposes involved with being in a military. For example, a soldier in the Continental Army serving under George Washington can feel that he was serving a very moral purpose. Indeed, he was fighting to free a people from a hostile king.

I'm sure you are here on DailyPaul because you want to help spread freedom to people. People often engage in war for that purpose. I think the issue that many have with the US military is that, as a whole, it no longer serves a noble purpose. Our leaders pretend that our military is fighting abroad for the purpose of securing freedom. It is quite obvious that you see past that lie. Currently, our military serves a role of occupation within foreign lands. Furthermore, whether that occupation is for the "noble" purpose of helping people in other nations become free or simply as part of some further misguided agenda is irrelevant. The flat out fact is that both purposes are not supported by our Constitution. The US Constitution says Congress shall have the power to raise armies for the purpose of the common defense. Plain and simply, our military is supposed to only be utilized to defend America. I think there are a lot of assignments within the military that can still fit within that purpose.

You mention that you will have a BS in Civil Engineering. I would hope that the military would find some assignment that uses that education as opposed to making you a grunt. I also thought that those who are in the ROTC program can enter the military as an officer. If you would be an officer and have soldiers underneath you, that means you can possibly intervene when the order is given to have those soldiers do something that is not harmonious to freedom, such as rounding up Americans to put them in internment camps.

You should talk to your CO and tell him where your moral basis lies and that you can't see following any order that is unConstitutional. Explain to him that you can't morally justify participating in any action such as operating in an undeclared theater of war, disarming Americans, rounding up Americans, or anything outside of the "common defense" purpose given to the military by the Constitution. My understanding of civil engineering is that you would be responsible for building roads and bridges. Just make sure the roads and bridges you build aren't intended to be used to kill others.