WOW.....you got all that garbage, negated my veteran status, called me everything but an american, over two questions....well, answer the 2 questions I asked...was he ordered to deploy, and did he deploy?... UCMJ ( the military justice system ) says he is guilty, automatically, without excuse.....what do you think of the UCMJ, general??? or is it admiral???? you must be a high ranking military officer to hold such opinions based upon 2 questions.....
I believe the fundamental question here is, and what LTC Lakin is asking is:
Was he lawfully ordered to deploy.
Not whether or not he was "ordered to deploy" which is clearly not in doubt as evidenced by his orders having been publicly posted a while back, I believe, here (a pdf)
The missing word, "lawfully", is the key here.
Ironically, LTC Lakin was required to bring copies of his birth certificate. I wonder what the Army's reaction would have been, had he placed a .jpeg of his short form on a web site and told them that these two can vouch for it's authenticity:
Jess Henig has an M.A. in English Literature.
Joe Miller has a Ph. D. in Political Philosophy.
I'm sure the Army would have been OK with that because the Army is clearly OK with being lead by a CinC who did just that (allegedly).
For what it's worth, you are correct. Consistent with the Constitution, Congress has established statutory authorities that render the Chain of Command valid under all foreseeable circumstance. This jabbering that the authority of all orders extends only from the God-like magnificence of the Commander-in-Chief is legally wrong. It's nonsense.
Lakin picked the wrong hill upon which to fight this battle. That's why his new counsel isn't doing the “Obama defense.” He's doing what his first counsel should have—trying to pare down the charges and plead good service to date.