The Lt. Col. was VERY specific and if he did not think he understood it, he would have asked again. PLus an order like that was not a no or go it is specifically engage or stand down. There is no wiggle room in that order.
Let me try saying this another way.
There is no question that an order to send the military into action has to come from the President. The only exception being if it’s an attack on a military base, where the commander has a bit more leeway.
Point is, the default mode is “no go”. It takes a specific order to send troops into action, whether it is to defend, rescue, or recover bodies.
It’s going to some down to sworn testimony and exact words. There’s a difference between “no go” which is the default state while awaiting orders, and “stand down” which implies going to a reduced state of readiness. That’s why they’ve got to get the military and CIA people on the record, under oath. There’s not much point in parsing words that are filtered to us through the news media.