they will follow orders.....
as in Russia or any dictatorship......when you have the job, the money, the prestige.....you stick with the dictator....."
Hate to ask this, but have you ever spent any time in uniform? I made $397/month (gross pay) when I went active duty (1978) and I daresay I could've made a lot more in the private sector or civil service. Yes, medical & dental were free, but at 18 years old, what need do you have for much of that? Free room and board, of course, but you wouldn't have liked to live like I did, especially in Korea (picture Gomer Pyle's barracks, but not that nice), and the food was maybe a step or two above a low grade community college or prison cafeteria, with a few exceptions. Oh, and there's that little detail of getting killed at work, that most people (except police and fire fighters) don't have to worry much about. Believe me, they earn EVERY PENNY of that "superior benefits and pay" that you referenced. As to whether the will blindly follow orders to shoot their fellow citizens? Sure, some might, but they risk being shot by their fellow soldiers, as well as the civilians. I would guesstimate that 10-20% will do whatever they're told and another 10% can be brow-beaten into it, but that leaves the vast majority in defiance of orders: What then?
“Hate to ask this, but have you ever spent any time in uniform?”
I think you can take it for granted that he(or she) has not. I started at $326.10 a month, three hots and a cot, about 5 years before you did.
Air Force, and not directly involved in combat arms, but I think your guesstimates are pretty close. There are always some folks who will follow orders, no matter what they are, but also quite a few who really THINK about what their oath means. Especially when they’ve taken if more than once. I also taught “Law of Armed Conflict” shortly before my retirement, and we got into the military responsibility to obey lawful orders, and to disobey unlawful orders, quite a bit.
WRM, MSgt, USAF(Ret.)
One question is whether the soldiers will fight Americans if commanded to do so.
Another question is whether the commanders will obey Obama’s orders to turn on American citizens.
Somehow I have my doubts.