Download The Oath of Office

Sustaining the Combat Capability of America’s Air Force
The Oath of Office: The
Last Word
Integrity - Service - Excellence
Oath of Office
Lesson objective:
Comprehend the significance
of the oath of office
and commissioning
2
Oath of Office
Samples of behavior:
1. In your own words, state the
meaning of the oath of office
2. Summarize the significance
of commissioning
3
Overview
• Oath Of Office
• Meaning Of Commission
• Service
• Sacrifice
• Responsibility
• Fun
• Oath Controversy
Eddie Rickenbacker
Douglas MacArthur
Colin Powell
Curtis LeMay
Ulysses S. Grant
Benjamin O. Davis
Chuck Yeager
Hoyt Vandenburg
Norman Schwartzkopf
Lance P. Sijan
Steven Bennett
Hilliard Willbanks
Joseph Loring
William Jones
Oath Background
• Hippocratic Oath
• Military Oaths date back to ancient Rome
• 1st Congress on 1 June 1789 created a law regulating the
time and manner of administering certain oaths
• Basically for civil/military officials to support the Constitution
• Implemented the requirement in Article 6 of the Constitution (…bound
by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution.)
• 1st officer oath: I <name> do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be)
that I will support the Constitution of the United States.
• 29 Sept 1789 – Enlisted oath created
• Many variations in the military oath (Revolutionary War, Civil
War, post Civil War, post WWII)
• Big Picture: call to a higher power, a statement to perform to
the best of one’s abilities, honor, consequences of not
keeping one’s word
7
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
The Oath
I, (state your full name), having been appointed
a second lieutenant, in the United States Air
Force, do solemnly swear 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, that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the office upon which I am about to enter, so
help me God.
What Does the Commission
Mean?
•
•
•
•
Service
Sacrifice
Responsibility
Fun
Service
• Country
• Self
• Peers
• Family
We in the military do what we do--fight, prepare to launch nuclear weapons, and
prepare to kill if need be--to defend our Constitution and the ideals of democracy, so
that our friends and peers can lead their lives in freedom.
Sacrifice
• Life
• Freedom
• Family
Responsibility
• The Mission
• Superiors
• Subordinates
• Yourself
Fun
• Jobs
• Assignments
• Friends / family
Oath of Office to Core Values
4
Oath of Office
Core Values
Air Force
Navy/Marine
Corps
Army
I will support and
defend the Constitution
of the United States
against all enemies,
foreign and domestic.
Service Before
Self
Courage
Selfless Service
Personal Courage
Loyalty
I take this obligation
freely, without any
mental reservation or
purpose of evasion.
Integrity First
Honor
Integrity
I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of
the office upon which I
am about to enter.
Excellence in All
We Do
Commitment
Duty
Respect
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Oath Controversy
•
•
Is the Oath of Office biased? What do you think is the most
controversial line in the oath?
What might it be violating (in a religious context)?
•
Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment
• What is this?
• Arguments for a Violation:
• Arguments against a Violation:
•
Inconsistent with Presidential Oath of Office
• “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of
the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States.”
• Arguments for a Violation:
• Arguments against a Violation:
•
Violates the last line of Article VI
• Arguments for a Violation:
• Arguments against a Violation:
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Freedom Is Not Free
I Watched A Flag Pass By One
Day,
It Fluttered In The Breeze.
A Young Airman Saluted It,
And Then He Stood At Ease.
I Thought How Many Men Like
Him,
Had Fallen Through The Years.
How Many Died On Foreign
Soil,
How Many Mother’s Tears.
How Many Pilot’s Planes Shot
Down,
How Many Died At Sea.
How Many Foxholes Were
Soldiers Graves,
No, Freedom Is Not Free.
I Heard The Sound Of Taps One
Night,
When Everything Was Still.
I Listened To The Bugler Play,
And Felt A Sudden Chill.
I Wondered Just How Many
Times,
That Taps Had Meant “Amen.”
When A Flag Had Covered A
Coffin,
Of A Brother Or A Friend.
I Thought Of All The Children,
Of Mothers And The Wives,
Of Fathers, Sons And
Husbands,
With Interrupted Lives.
I Thought About A Graveyard,
At The Bottom Of The Sea.
Of Unmarked Graves At
Arlington,
No, Freedom Is Not Free.
Sources
1. The Military Oath of Office, Colonel Orwyn Sampson,
USAF Academy Journal of Professional Military Ethics,
September 1981.
2. AFP 190-13, The Armed Forces Officer, Armed Forces
Information Service, Department of Defense, 1988.
3. Niel Misholov’s Vietnam War Medal of Honor Web
page (http://www.mishalov.com/citations.html).
4. The Oath of Office, Lt Col Keskel, Air & Space Power
Journal, Winter 2002
29
Summary
• Oath Of Office
• Meaning Of Commission
•
•
•
•
Service
Sacrifice
Responsibility
Fun
• Poem