[ops33]

What about the military? Both my wife and I were born in the US but both of our children were born in Germany when we were stationed there. My daughter was born in the US Army hospital at Landstuhl. But to further complicate matters, my son was born in West Berlin while the city was legally still under Allied occupation. He was born in the US Army hospital in the American sector while I was a member of the US Occupation Forces. At that time, the West German government did not exercise sovereignty over West Berlin. Each Allied power, US, Britain and France, was sovereign over its sector. Both of my children have birth certificates issued by the US State Department that records the birth of a US citizen born abroad. So, are my children Natural Born Citizens or not?

[CDR Kerchner]

Read all of Chapter 19 of Vattel's "Principles of Natural Law", especially Section 217 which applies to the military stationed abroad as part of the armies of the state: https://lonang.com/library/reference/vattel-law-of-nations/vatt-119/

[CDR Kerchner]

Vattel is clear on the matter you present. The U.S. Government and State Department is not. One would assume that members of the military stationed abroad with dependents would have been briefed on the uncertainty of the issue per the State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual. See: http://www.kerchner.com/naturalborncitizen/StateDepartment-EligibilityForPresidency-NaturalBornCitizen-HL1 op.jpg The U.S. Supreme Court needs to take on this issue of "natural born Citizen" instead of avoiding it, as Justice Clarence Thomas stated. My position is that Vattel is clear on the issue as he states in section 216 and 217.