Can disobeying a direct order ever be a good decision?

2020-02-05T01:57:58-05:00

Can you find examples of people who were awarded for disobeying a direct order? See the response below.

Highly summarized answers.

Response by LTC Lee Bouchard made Feb 5 at 2020 2:00 AM

2020-02-05T02:00:26-05:00

There are at least 10 examples. Hint..U.S., German and Russians who were promoted or awarded the MOH.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Feb 5 at 2020 9:50 AM

2020-02-05T09:50:01-05:00

LTC Lee Bouchard What you will not find in general historical records is the many (I believe) SM that have disobeyed an unlawful direct order and the mission, plan, task ended there.
From something as "simple" as a SGT telling a new PL "No Sir, we will not dump the used oil in the dirt parking area across the street" to "No SSG, Im not taking that shot, I see no hostile intent, no weapon of any-kind, nothing in her hand but a toy, and even if that little girl does have a grenade in her hand like you say she might...we are way outside the blast radius ...she cant hurt us at this point at all"

Response by LTC Lee Bouchard made Feb 5 at 2020 2:06 PM

2020-02-05T14:06:16-05:00

The 10 examples.

10. SGT. Dakoda Meyer, USMC, Op. Enduring Freedom, 2009 Ordered by his CO to stay in position Meyers took his MV to rescue 12 fellow Marines. He made 5 trips under heavy fire ignoring direct orders not to go. Later awarded the MOH.
9. PVT Daniel Hellings, British Army, Op Enduring Freedom. Disobeyed direct orders from his CO to withdraw. He went fwd. to recue wounded men from an IED in a narrow alleyway. Personally found and disarmed more IED's allowing everyone to withdraw. Later awarded The Queens Gallantry Medal.
8. MG Daniel Sickies, Union Army, Battle at Gettysburg. Disobeyed a direct order to move his troops to Little Round Top. Instead, moved hid troops to a Peach orchard taking heavy casualties. Fending off confederate attacks, the Union Army was able to out flank the Conf. Army and winning the Battle at Gettysburg. His was awarded the MOH.
7. LTC Stanislav Petrov, Soviet Army, 1983. Ordered to notify his commanders of a Nuclear Launch Warning, LTC Petrov took it upon himself to evaluate what was to become a false positive warning.
He did not notify his superiors instead used cool reasoning that the information he had was false. Today historians claim LTC. Petrov had prevented WW lll and a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. He was neither awarded or punished for his actions.
6. 1LT. Frank Luke, U.S. Army Air Corps. WW l. Ordered not to fly his Spad Xlll by his CO, Lt. Luke went Balloon hunting to prevent the German artillery using them to target allied troops. Already an ACE piolet Luke shot down 3 balloons while taking heavy ground fire. After he had to land due to damage to his plane. Luke, with his sidearm, went after a German Atty. Battery on foot. He was killed in the engagement. Awarded the MOH for his bravery.
5. LT. Albert Battel, German Pilot, WW ll. In spite of known orders he assisted in saving hundreds of Jews from being moved to concentration camps by the S.S. On one occasion he and his small force blocked a bridge preventing the advancing S.S. from crossing and taking more Jewish people as prisoners. His actions saved hundreds of lives. He did not save them all after several attempts to save as many as he could. He was later reprimanded. Some time later promoted and returned to the lines.
Surviving Jews have honored his actions and considered him a hero. He died in 1944 due to a heart condition.
4. Cpl. Desmond Doss. U.S. Army Medic, WW ll. A conscientious objector because of his faith, disobeyed direct orders several times. Ordered to arm himself with, rifle, side arm or knife he refused.
His actions have been into movie in 2019 that document his heroism under fire. On April, 1945 U.S. forces came under heavy small arms and artillery fire. On 5 different occasions over 22 days Doss rescued 75 wounded men under murderous enemy fire. Each wounded man, one at a time, was dragged from the kill zone by Doss. Due his actions Doss was awarded the MOH.
3. LT. Thomas C. "Diver" Derrick, Australian Army, WW ll. In the battle for Sattleberg against the Japanese, Lt Derrick was ordered to withdraw by his CO. His response was "F*** the CO". Give me 20 min and I'll have this under control. He and his men advanced under heavy fire taking out several machine gun emplacements using grenades and accurate rifle fire routing the Japanese. Later rising the Auzie flag over the city of Sattlegerg. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for Gallantry.
2. Maj. David Teich, U.S. Army, Tank Commander, Korea. On April, 1951 300,000 Chinese were advancing on U.S. Forces. A Ranger unit was under heavy fire and taking heavy casualties. Maj.Teich
was ordered to withdraw his tanks. He asked his commander if he could take his armor and help the pinned down Rangers. His commander denied his request. Ignoring his CO Maj. Teich rolled forward anyway and rescued the Rangers who climbed up on the tanks sometimes covering the entire vehicle.
His actions prevented soldiers from killed or taken prisoners by the Chinese. Later awarded the MOH.
1. Wehrmact General Dietrick A.F. Von Choititz, WW ll, Aug. 1944. General Choititz was the commander of Nazi occupied Paris, France. Hitler gave him a direct order to destroy Paris before it fell into Allied hands. Specifically, All religious buildings and churches, all historic buildings, art galleries, monuments etc. General Choititz refused the order saying Hitler was crazy and out of his mind. (words to that effect) Today, Paris France with all it's history and beauty has been preserved by General Choititz.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Feb 6 at 2020 1:30 PM

2020-02-06T13:30:56-05:00

If you know it's wrong, don't do it. Sometimes in war you get awards for it, usually we are grateful not to be reprimanded

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 6 at 2020 2:28 PM

2020-02-06T14:28:28-05:00

Yes, only if it's found to be unlawful. Lt. Calley is germane.

Response by SSG Ralph Watkins made Feb 6 at 2020 4:10 PM

2020-02-06T16:10:47-05:00

The first half of my career was in the SIGINT field. Those of us who collected data had to stick to our tasking. A major event was unfolding, tensions & fears were high, & the tasking got more demanding to get answers. Sorry, I can't spell things out better. Well, one operator would have his section chief slam down the tasking on his intercept position & insist he follow it. The operator gave serious attitude & talked about a gut feeling he had. The command got wind of this guy's insubordination & was talking about giving him an Article 15. Suddenly, the crap hit the fan, surprising the entire intel community. The sole source of information on what just happened came from this arrogant, insubordinate SIGINT collector. He was dead on with his gut feeling. He got a Legion of Merit & our unit for a Superior Unit Award b/c he disobeyed orders.

Response by SSG Harry Herres made Feb 6 at 2020 4:11 PM

2020-02-06T16:11:46-05:00

Only one I ever did, Col. Herres ( my dad) ordered me to complete college before enlisting. I enlisted two weeks later. Best move I ever made. I returned to Vietnam 13 years after he returned home. The Col. 1955-56. Sp-5 1970-71 only order I ever disobey

Response by Sgt Dale Briggs made Feb 1 at 2021 12:09 PM

2021-02-01T12:09:45-05:00

Sickles was indeed awarded, but the guy moved his men off the high ground with artillery support into an indefensible position and broke the Union line. He didn’t disobey orders to help his men it was just a bad move that ultimately ended his military career, plus his wound was serious. He lost a lot of men in that peach orchard, he had both flacks connected to air, getting raked by artillery. Took 34 years fir the MOH, probably called in as a favor.