Verbal Orders

[BillB]

This question came up a couple of years ago, and just recently was repeated. If Major Jones gives Capt Smith a verbal order, how long a period is it valid? When asked AFROTC Detachment staff said there is no USAF time period in writing, but normally assumed to be 30 days. So how long is a verbal oder valid?

[lordmonar]

Until the order is countermanded.

If I order you, verbally, to have no contact with someone....that order is enforce till the end of time, or it is countermanded, or superseded.

Now the legal beagles may have a rule of thumb for prosecution purposes but that may be based on the fact that a jury may buy the "I forgot" defense and not a technical application of the regulations.

[mikeylikey]

In the military, even if your Commander leaves for a new assignment his verbal orders are still in effect until the new guy says specifically, "you do this now".

[Flying Pig]

An order is an order until it is countered by a higher authority.  Otherwise, if there was, say a 30 day time limit, some slug could just avoid the issue and lay low for the time period and be home free.  In law enforcement, we get verbal orders from Sgt's and Lt's all the time that are expected to be followed from then on. 
If your Platoon Sgt. says that every morning, your platoon is responsible for emptying the trash before formation, thats how it is until your told different.  Where the h$%% did the "assumed" 30 day time period come from?  8 years in the military I have never heard of a time limit.

Could you imagine the chaos if there were assumed time limits to orders?  Could you imagine a protracted war where you may not have contact with your higher?  Hmmmmm, well, we were told to take that hill, but its now day 31.  Everyone stand by.

[SamFranklin]

Interesting question. An even better question is this:  How many thousands of good members have we lost because some unit commanders believe the "I order you to..." mentality is an effective way of leading volunteers?

[Pylon]

Interesting question. An even better question is this:  How many thousands of good members have we lost because of the unit commanders who believe the "I order you to..." mentality is an effective way of leading volunteers.

:applause:

[RiverAux]

Been in CAP for a lot of years and outside of missions ("Take ground team 1 to...) have never heard any sort of real verbal order being given to a senior member. 

[mikeylikey]

^ Heard a few......not many.  I like to involve others in decisions, so it is easier to say "what do you think needs to get done", OR "what else can you do".  Makes them feel like they are part of the process and does not make them feel like they are 10 years old.  Saying "go to this, go do that, get this done, get that done" is not always the right thing to say.

[ZigZag911]

Most commanders give "orders" (other than routine stuff , such as "finish the class, then let them go to lunch") as a last resort, when reason and discussion and explanation have failed and some one (usually a senior member) is insisting on having their own way in spite of safety concerns, regulation limitations, or unwarranted expense.

[Gunner C]

As stated above, do what you're asked to do to the best of your ability unless it is illegal or immoral.

I've been in uniform for 30 years and I've NEVER said "I order you to . . . " nor have I ever heard anyone use those words.

[lordmonar]

Been in CAP for a lot of years and outside of missions ("Take ground team 1 to...) have never heard any sort of real verbal order being given to a senior member. 

"Can you take out the garbage" is a verbal order. 

There seems to be a misconception that someone has to say a magic phrase to invoke an order.

The old term of "violating a direct order" is what you are thinking about.  That simply means that you empasised to the individual what you wanted him to do.  It is simply used to show the court board that there is no way that Airman Snuff thought you were joking.

But we issue verbal orders all the time.

"I want you to take your ground team to these coordinates and search for an elt signal"

"Fly an expanding square in grid 129B"

"help me sweep this floor"

These are all verbal orders.