"The focus of these Oaths is that the oath-taker would be bound to follow any order given through their chain of command. The chain of command is very detailed and laid out from the presidency to the Private burning human defecation on a FOB in Afghanistan. This structured military’s foundation is The Constitution. ”A well-regulated Militia…” (Article II of the Constitution) That phrase “well-regulated” is important because the Constitution is the greatest level of authority that any politician can aspire to hold. The military is not disciplined because a politician tells them to be rather it is because the Constitution demands it.
This brings me to my main point: The duty of the military is to obey all lawful orders given by the well-regulated chain of command. In the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) says* soldiers must obey all lawful orders and lawful general orders as well as lawful orders from Officers and Warrant officers/ Each time it is commanded of the Soldier to obey an order the caveat of “lawful” is put directly prior. So a soldier is at least permitted to refuse to obey any unlawful order. The Supreme Court however makes it clear in multiple cases throughout American Military history that “I was following Orders” is not an excuse for breaking the law.
The first such case is the Little vs. Barreme in 1804. ” A Danish vessel, The Flying Fish, with neutral Danish property on board was seized by the United States frigate Boston, commanded by Captain Little (Little), and brought into the port of Boston and libeled as an American vessel that had violated the non-intercourse law.” (casebriefs.com) John Adams had given the order that all American ships going to or from a French port could be seized by the Navy. The defense was that it was an order given by the President. However the Supreme Court found that the president did not have authority to write law or give an order that contradicted a law established by the Legislative body. (There are many more details in this case and I would encourage you to study it yourself in further detail.)
Since all power is derived from the Constitution it is logical to assume that any law given by congress or any order that is given by the President that clearly circumvents the Constitution is not to be obeyed by any member of the military. This was very intentionally planned by our Founding Fathers to prevent any military action that jeopardized the sustainability of a Constitutional Government while preventing the military from staging an unjust coup"
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