"Using the name God in that oath is a terrible thing."

I couldn't agree more.

It's the Armed Forces oath. The official one every recruit takes.

@abgemacht - Did you think I would put my real name in there for this bunch to see? Sure, they can figure it out with a google search, but most of them are so fucking stupid they were lucky to find this site.

@Draug

No, I wouldn't expect you to do that. But after reading that, I couldn't stop thinking of an orc from WOW taking the oath.

I might add that the last part is optional. :)

At least, I didn't invoke God in my oath.

And you can affirm instead of swear, much like taking the stand in court.

I, Octavious, swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, her heirs and successors in person, crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors and of the generals and officers set over me.

Ah, happy memories. Amazing how similar the British and American oaths are. Does anyone know how long they've existed in their current forms?

Oh, and the army version makes the last part optional, but not all officers in all services will acc.ept it without. Pretty much SOP in the Corps. I'm guessing you weren't a Marine, Jack.

The present version came into being in 1960 and took effect in 1962. It was changed from the 1789 version.

The first oath under the Constitution was approved by Act of Congress 29 September 1789 (Sec. 3, Ch. 25, 1st Congress). It applied to all commissioned officers, noncommissioned officers and privates in the service of the United States. It came in two parts, the first of which read: "I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that I will support the constitution of the United States." The second part read: "I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) to bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and to serve them honestly and faithfully, against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever, and to observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States of America, and the orders of the officers appointed over me."

From usmilitary.about.com

Out of interest, if some group of damned fool senators try to amend the constitution in a way that seems to you will weaken and damage it, are you bound by oath to shoot them?

Only if the President orders it. We are bound to defend the Constitution but part of the Constitution puts the power to change it in Congress and the States hands. We are bound to defend that part as well. Oh, and our Constitutional changes have to be ratified by the states, so no group of senators could do diddly unless they states ratify their proposed changes.

That is a stupid enough question that I'm not even going to answer it.

Draugnar: I was going to be a Marine, and then they found out my parents were married. :P Also, they don't let the Marines operate nuclear fission reactors.

War is not just. You cannot serve God and your country. Because they're morals and ideals conflict. It is like serving in the Wehrmacht and the U.S Army during WWII. Killing is never justified. If you do not have Love you will not enter the kingdom of God. Yet these right wing dumbasses in the millitary think killing muslims and serving america(which is aparantly blessed by God(didnt the oath to the fuhrer also invoke God?) is pleasing in Gods eyes.

Oh, a swabby then. Weren't you glad us devil dogs were around to save your asses having to hit the shores under fire?

War is not just? But I suppose hijacking four airliners and flying two of them into a civilian target with exactly *zero* strategic military value was? Fuck that bullshit.

Shit, that's why submarines carry missiles. Assaulting beaches is for crazy fucks and those born retarded. :)

Which is why we attack Iraq! Right Draugnar?

@ Jack: It may be a stupid question, but fun. You must be able to think of a few politicians that would benefit hugely from the addition of a bullet to their respective arses. I can think of loads. Sadly, if we shot people just because they deserve it most of the world's population would be wiped out.

@The Prussian - you said "war is not just", not a specific war. I agree that the American public and Congress were sold a bill of goods on Iraq and we need to disengage there, but a flat pull out won't keep the region stable and will just allow Iran to steamroll across Iraq's government putting the whole region at risk.

But Afghanistan (it is a different war, not just a different theater of operations) is a just war and our part in WWII was a just war. would you rather be speaking German, goosestepping and saying "sieg heil" everytime you turned around?

Jack, I'll admit to being a crazy fuck. No problem there. Think Mel Gibson in the first Lethal Weapon... That was me at 18. Gung ho and didn't give a fuck if I got shot. But I feel much better now.

I would never say that oath, even with a gun to my head. (Well, I might try to say "not" under my breath after do.

You fucjig douchebags. I'm in the fucking army and its bastards like you I'm sworn to defend. I give my life an wellbeing for you And I'm a a babykiller.

Fuck you all

Hey, its not my fault you were stupid enough to join the Army. :) At least Draugnar had enough brain cells to swat together to work with real infantrymen. :P

I remember reading some of the old reports from the 1950-60s when the Army and Air Force were operating test reactors. They both managed to slag theirs in separate, yet highly entertaining ways (tragic in the case of the Army's... people died. But they died because they were stupid). Go Army?

@ Draugnar
Sorry for my ignorance, I thought you were talking about the oath of allegiance, I didn't realize they had an army oath, seems a bit old fashioned to me.

That would be the pledge of allegiance and it has nothing to do with what we must do to defend our Constitution and our Country. It's more a pledge of fealty than anything else.

Lol the navies for pussies, and the marine corps not looking for beacon fires of intelligence

I know it sucks that you guys actually have to... you know. Do your jobs now and deploy. Hard for me to have a huge amount of sympathy... Navy's been deploying for six months every two years since effectively forever. :)

I remember when I was taking the ASVABs... got done early, and was sitting in the little lounge reading a magazine when the next guy to get done arrives. He was all worried that he didn't get a high enough score to get the job he wanted in the Army. I asked him what score he had to get, and for what job. "I needed a 30 percentile so I can be a truck driver". (I might add that my field, if you didn't have at least an 85, they didn't even look at you).

At that point, my opinion of the average soldier dropped to a rather low level. And I haven't seen much reason for it to go up. :)

I joined the Corps because I was a music major as well as a math and science major in HS. I had been accepted into the Corps music program and my goal was to travel the country as a member of the President's Own.