Kent State and Following Orders

In various forums, there's been debate about the suitability of the Orders Project. CAAFlog shared a post from retired Major General Charles Dunlap, the former deputy judge advocate general of the Air Force, where he argued the project was unnecessary and problematic. He used Kent State as an example to support his points, since the guardsmen who fired on unarmed civilians, killing four, were not prosecuted.

The comments underneath the CAAFlog post offer an interesting discussion. Some come from a volunteer in the Orders Project, Don Rehkopf, who worked on the Kent State civil litigation and disagrees with MG (ret.) Dunlap's arguments. The editor of CAAFlog, who is also one of the co-founders of the Orders Project, offered some interesting hypotheticals off the Kent State example.

In any case, its a very interesting discussion for those curious about the responsibilities of military members to follow lawful orders, disobey unlawful ones, and how hard it can be--in extreme circumstances--to tell the difference.