Our oath and the Constitution Published Oct. 10, 2007 By Lt. Col. Edward F. Farley 325th Medical Operations Squadron commander TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- In 2004 President Bush declared Sept. 17 Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. This is a good time to review what he and every one of us in uniform vowed to support and defend. Airmen' s Roll Call had a great quote commemorating the observance: "When we raised our hands as Airmen, we swore our allegiance to support the Constitution of the United States of America. We joined the pioneers and legends who blazed the skies before us to defend our nation, its ideals, and the freedoms embodied in the Constitution." More than 220 years ago, on Sept. 17, 1787 the Constitutional Convention held their final meeting. They only had one item on the agenda that day; signing the brand-new Constitution of the United States of America. The 55 delegates had met almost daily since May 25 in the State House, otherwise known as Independence Hall; in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. By the middle of June, they realized that just updating the articles wasn't going to be enough. Instead, they would have to write an entirely new document designed to clearly define and separate the powers of the central government, the powers of the states, the rights of the people, and how the representatives of the people should be elected. What they came up with was the Constitution. So what is a "constitution" and how does it affect military personnel? A constitution embodies the fundamental principles of a government. Our constitution was adopted by the sovereign power (we the people) and can be changed by that power only. All laws, executive actions, and judicial decisions must conform to it because it is the creator of all the powers exercised by every department of our government. Our Constitution has been classed as rigid because it is a written document which cannot be legally changed with the same ease and the same way as ordinary laws. The unwritten British Constitution can be changed any time by an act of parliament. The legendary early 19th century British prime minister, W. E. Gladstone, famously remarked that "...the American Constitution is, so far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man." The Constitution remains brilliant in its overall design. The founders devised a political system that separated the powers of government, placed mutual checks on the powers each branch held, and ensured certain civil and human rights. Any new Constitutional initiatives cannot infringe upon these bedrock principles of American government. Almost every new Constitution throughout the world has been modeled after ours. Two years after the Constitution was signed, the first bill in the first session of the first Congress on 1 June 1789 was passed into law. It was statute 1, chapter 1 and it was titled: "An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths, which established the oath required by civil and military officials to support the Constitution". The founding fathers agreed that the most important loyalty that officials had was their loyalty to the rule of American law, and not other men. There was almost no debate as this statute was unanimously passed. Although the wording of the military oath has changed several times in the past two centuries, the basic foundation has withstood the test of time. The current oath is much more than a mere formality, it provides a foundation for leadership decisions. All members of the U.S. Armed Forces swear an oath to this document. The oath requires us to support and defend the Constitution, not the president, not the country, not the flag, and not a particular military service. Yet, at the same time, the Constitution symbolizes the president, the country, the flag, the military, and much more. The Constitution was built on a series of checks and balances that distribute power across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. And military members must give their allegiance to all three entities- despite the fact that the chain of command leads directly to the president. These checks and balances create inefficiencies inherent in the rest of America's democratic system. This can be frustrating for military personnel trying to defend a nation. That said, the U.S. has a pretty impressive track record of military success against quite a few enemies, both foreign and domestic in spite of our form of government. And I don't think Americans would want it any other way. So no matter how much we argue about the details of its meaning today, most people agree that Constitution represents the greatest expression of statesmanship and compromise ever crafted. In just four hand-written pages, the Constitution gives America's Airmen the technical orders for honorable and excellent service to the greatest form of government the world has ever known. For more information about Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, visit http://constitutionday.cpms.osd.mil.