To put in mildly, Dr. Lakin was naive. He refused his orders because he did not think that Obama was legitimately the US president.
That might be so. But no way would such an argument ever be accepted by the Defense Department. That means Dr. Lakin was on a suicide mission. And for what?
I suppose Dr. Larkin can claim a moral victory here. But in reality he only hurt himself, and changed nothing. Sort of like a private complaining about Hitler.
To my knowledge, and as of this day 11/24/25, Barrack Obama is recognized as the 2008 and 2012 election winner.
It is not within the scope or job description of military officers or enlisted to question that determination and act upon the decision to miss an obligation like a deployment because you think differently than the congressional decision.
It was a direct order to deploy and he missed it because he was guessing something was wrong with the determination Obama was not president. He deserved the jail time as if he was going to prove Obama’s serving as wrong, he would have had to do it before the date he was ordered to deploy. Other wise, he is failing within the UCMJ article 86 failure to go and article 92 failure to obey a direct order. And if he did it today, he still would be in failure to follow the UCMJ.
wy69
Perhaps I’m missing the plot.
On the one hand, plenty of people have real doubts about Obama’s birth certificate. But, let’s face it, he lived in the White House for 8 years. That ship has sailed. He’s in the history books as president. Maybe at some point in the future those books will be re-written, but it hasn’t happened yet.
On the other hand, a military officer was issued orders to show up for duty. And he didn’t. That’s bad. It’s always bad.
If his commander had ordered him to rape women and kill children, I’d have a lot more sympathy. But he was told to show up for deployment. And he just didn’t. That’s not OK. I don’t see any way to glorify that action.
In a previous administration a large number of G.I.s were dishonorably discharged without benefits for disobeying illegal orders to change their DNA.
All orders must be presumed to be legal. Your only options are to obey the order or resign your commission. You, as the one receiving the order, can’t question it’s legitimacy until you do one or the other. It’s like having standing to bring a case to Court.
No, these things happened because he failed to be in his appointed place of duty. He deserted. It is not the place for military members to question the results of an election, or the eligibility of an elected official.
Dr. Lakin was sentenced to Ft. Leavenworth military prison. He was dishonorably discharged from service
Officers are not dishonorably discharged. They have no enlistment to be discharged from. They are dismissed.
A report at Military.com of June 28, 2011 by Bryant Jordan stated,
During his court-martial at Fort Meade, Md., in December, Lakin told the court that he was wrong not to report as ordered to Fort Campbell, Ky., despite concerns he had about the president's citizenship. He told the court he hoped he would be allowed to continue serving and that he was ready to deploy."As an officer, I certainly understand I don't have the right to ask for somebody's qualifications, the GPA or the level of training of an elected official," he said. "But I believe my oath as an officer allowed me to ask the question" about the president's eligibility.
In addition to being dismissed, when Lakin tried to resume his medical practice in Kansas, the state denied his application of a medical license.
The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts (KSBHA) held a hearing on October 21, 2011 regarding the application for a license by Dr. Terrence L. Lakin. On November 21, 2011 the Board rendered its Final Decision, therein stating:
IV. Conclusions10. There is no dispute of the material facts by the parties in this matter.
11. Applicant's actions and conduct underlying his court-martial convictions constitute dishonorable conduct.
12. Applicant's refusal to deploy to Afghanistan to provide medical services In support of Operation Enduring Freedom due to his own personal beliefs represents a disregard for his professional duties and undermines the integrity of the medical profession. Of even more significance, Applicant's actions potentially jeopardized the health, safety and welfare of the military troops for which Applicant was employed to provide medical care.
13. Denial of Applicant's application for licensure is warranted due to the egregiousness of Applicant's conduct.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, BY THE KANSAS STATE BOARD OF HEALING ARTS that Applicant's application for licensure is hereby DENIED.
On December 7, 2011, Dr. Lakin filed a petition for reconsideration. On December 22, 2011 the KSBHA rendered its Order Granting Reconsideration in Part and Modifying Final Order Denying Application for Licensure, and Denying Reconsideration in Part, therein stating:
III. ConclusionBased on the new evidence presented by Petitioner in Exhibit 1 to his Petition for Reconsideration, the Board reconsiders paragraph four (4) of the Final Order and finds that it should be modified to accurately reflect Petitioner's convictions. Furthermore, the Board finds that reconsideration should be denied as to the remainder of the Final Order because Petitioner had adequate notice and opportunity to be heard, and Petitioner's other arguments do not have sufficient merit to warrant reconsideration.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED BY THE KANSAS STATE BOARD OF HEALING ARTS that Petitioner's Petition for Reconsideration is hereby GRANTED IN PART regarding the Board 's finding contained in paragraph four (4) of the Final Order Denying Application for Reconsideration.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that paragraph four (4) of the Final Order Denying Application for Licensure is hereby MODIFIED as follows:
4. Applicant was subject to a general court-martial in December of 2010, and was convicted of one (1) specification of missing movement, and three (3) specifications of failing to obey a lawful order.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner's Petition for Reconsideration is hereby DENIED IN PART regarding the remainder of the findings, conclusions and order contained in the Board's Final Order Denying Application for Licensure.
IT IS SO ORDERED THIS 21st DAY OF DECEMBER, 2011, IN THE CITY OF TOPEKA, COUNTY OF SHAWNEE, STATE OF KANSAS.