CHICAGO – In the desert, he understood that Humvees don’t protect the Constitution: people do.

Two decades on, Iraq War veteran Aaron Hughes remains committed to sharing his insight that soldiers can more effectively promote American values by adhering to their moral compass rather than just following commands.

The 42-year-old is spreading the message with greater intensity than ever before asPresident Donald Trumpshifts to station soldiers in cities across the United States, according to the president, as part of an initiative to combat crime and assist with immigration control.

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“When individuals step away from the mechanisms of the system, that act represents strength, and military personnel should understand they hold the ability to withdraw their agreement,” said the person from the Chicago area.

Hughes is a member from Illinois affiliated with About Face: Veterans Against the War, an group established to oppose “militarism and endless warswhich has been criticizing the White House’s attempts to use military personnel to police citizens and is encouraging soldiers to refuse deployment.

efforts are focused on reviving the GI resistance movement,” explained Hughes, alluding to the extensive actions taken by veterans and active military personnel to put an end to the Vietnam War. “We do not wish for our fellow service members to be involved in this type of authoritarian expansionism.

Initiatives to establish a new resistance movement arise as Trump sends troops toLos Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee. Most recently, forces have been sent toPortland, Oregonand are anticipated to implement toChicago.

The Trump administration has already shown a reluctance to tolerate disagreement within its ranks. At a recentgathering of generals, Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethcriticized “decades of decline” at the Pentagon and stated that new actions would eliminate political correctness within the world’s most influential military force.

If the words I’m uttering today are causing your heart to feel heavy,” Hegseth said to hundreds of generals. “Then you ought to act with integrity and step down.

Quantico meeting takeaways: Hegseth criticizes the Pentagon’s decline and ‘plump officers’

Veterans gather across the nation

Hughes and other veterans from the Chicago area are merely one part of About Face’s nationwide initiative to encourage soldiers to resist what they see as Trump’s “unlawful” commands to send troops into American cities.

In Washington, D.C., the group members were arrestedopposing the sending of troops to Los Angeles; near military installations, includingFort Bragg and Camp Lejeune, they have put up billboards asking if supporting immigration officers is what soldiers enlisted for; and as Trump threatened to sendtroops to Baltimore, members ralliedagainst the intended possible deployment.

Many veterans are feeling deeply upset to witness the collapse of everything they believed they were fighting to protect,” said Brittany Ramos DeBarros, Director of About Face Organizing. However, “there is still a chance for us to advocate for the values we committed to.

DeBarros mentioned that local chapter groups are organizing demonstrations across the nation, aiming to inform service members about their available choices when facing deployment and ultimately establish additional legal pathways for troops to assert conscientious objection.

I’m aware there are thousands of veterans who would support us but haven’t heard about our cause,” said DeBarros, a veteran from the Afghanistan conflict. “I want people to understand that the door is open and there’s a community here that will stand by you.

DeBarros mentioned that the group currently has approximately 2,000 members across the country, although hundreds of new individuals have become members in recent months. These include serving military personnel, noted the former Army captain, who left her role in 2018 following an investigation by the military for expressing opposition to the conflict in Afghanistan.

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Can military personnel assert a conscientious objection?

Soldiers have at least one way to refuse deployment orders: claiming conscientious objector status. This process involves soldiers who refuse to fight due to moral or religious beliefs.

However, conscientious objection is a specifically defined position that can be challenging to assert since a soldier must oppose all wars to be eligible, not just one particular deployment, according to several experts who spoke with USA TODAY.

If you’re open to joining an armed force but simply aren’t fond of this particular time, then you don’t meet the criteria,” Steve Woolford, a worker with the GI Rights Hotline, said to USA TODAY. “In such cases, the military views it as a political disagreement.

Woolford, who has been handling calls at the GI Rights Hotline prior to September 11, 2001, mentioned that in recent months, there has been approximately a 50% increase in calls from soldiers interested in conscientious objection or considering ways to refuse orders to deploy to U.S. cities.

There are individuals posing various questions that they hadn’t considered before, as they are now recognizing themselves in roles they hadn’t anticipated,” noted Woolford. “They aren’t discussing matters in a political manner, nor are they avoiding their responsibilities; they are people committed to serving the nation, ready to put their lives on the line, and they don’t want to feel as though they are acting improperly.

More: ICE seeks National Guard forces in Chicago due to ‘riots’ and detentions. Governor resists.

Can soldiers refuse orders?

The U.S. military consists of volunteers who engage in combat, yet once enlisted, soldiers are not allowed to select which commands they obey. Such actions may result in severe penalties, including lengthy imprisonment, as stated by Steve Levin, a professor at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law.

In the military, going against a legal order endangers the whole chain of command,” explained Levin regarding the reasons why refusing orders can be a major violation. “The system relies on discipline, and the military functions through immediate compliance because resistance can result in loss of life.

The sole exception, as stated by Levin and other legal professionals, applies to illegal commands, although meeting this criterion can be extremely challenging, even among Trump’s critics, including those from IllinoisGov. JB Pritzker, call deployments illegal. 

“Given the current deployments, the legality of the orders is questionable, but historically, it hasn’t been up to individual service members to decide,” stated John W. Hall, a military history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Can soldiers resist anyway?

The absence of legal options has not prevented U.S. soldiers from refusing commands in the past.

“The U.S. has maintained a democratic tradition regarding military service, where although there is a cost for disagreeing, when this happens, it serves as a signal to political leaders that even those soldiers following orders will voice their concerns,” said David Cortright, a professor at the Notre Dame Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

Cortright personally engaged in resistance after being called to serve in the Vietnam War. Based in New York, he took part in demonstrations in Manhattan during his time off and signed a petition opposing the conflict.

His attempts to refuse resulted in him being transferred to a base in Texas, where “all we did was clean the barracks floor nonstop for months,” Cortright stated.

If you participate in protests, you should be aware or prepared for the possibility of facing consequences, as commanders typically do not appreciate soldiers who disagree with the mission. However, during the Vietnam era, we didn’t concern ourselves with that,” he stated. “A thoughtful soldier is a genuine concept, and I’m grateful for our society, as we are not simply machines.

“Legacy of freedom heroes,” veteran says

Hughes enrolled in the National Guard at a Chicago armory prior to 9/11, expecting to assist with flood relief or building sandbags along the Mississippi River. However, he was sent to Iraq and Kuwait, where his initial enthusiasm for the mission gradually turned into doubts.

“I was eager to assist in establishing a democracy, but it didn’t take long to understand that occupying forces do not create democracies,” Hughes stated.

Hughes and others started opposing directives by arriving late or conducting patrols at a deliberately slow pace.

For Hughes, this marked the beginning of a renewed sense of national pride: U.S. soldiers do not merely obey commands, but instead defend American values, and at times, that involves rejecting orders. In “About Face,” he found thousands of fellow soldiers who shared this perspective.

It’s common for them to believe they’re alone, but there’s a history and legacy of freedom fighters that they are part of, which we aim to link them to,” Hughes stated. “What gives me hope is that the individuals who have taken control of our security system still rely on people following their orders. Historically, these individuals have demonstrated that when situations are unjust and immoral, we possess the power to refuse our consent.

This piece first was published on USA TODAY:Can members of the National Guard stationed in U.S. cities assert a claim based on conscientious objection?

The post Can National Guardsmen Object Conscientiously When Deployed? appeared first on FondTimes.