Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, amidst sweeping changes in the national security sphere by the Trump Administration, stated at an event on Wednesday that his allegiance does not lie with a President or a tyrant, but solely with the constitution.
While standing besides the newly appointed acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller at the opening of the U.S. Army Museum, Gen. Milley stated that "We are unique among militaries. We do not take an oath to a king or a queen, a tyrant or a dictator. We do not take an oath to an individual. No, we do not take an oath to a country, a tribe or religion. We take an oath to the Constitution".
Gen. Milley has repeatedly referenced the military's oath to uphold the Constitution, especially when President Trump contemplated the deployment of the National Guard and the Armed Forces during the Black Lives Matter protests across the country, and he chose to reinforce this message in the aftermath of an exhausting Presidential election.
Following a dramatic reshuffling of the senior civilian leadership in the Pentagon, in the aftermath of the Esper's dismissal by the President, the Trump Administration has funnelled a series of political lobbyists and conspiracy-theorists into the country's intelligence and national security spheres; with many speculating that Gen. Milley could potentially be on the chopping-block as well.
These controversial appointments include Douglas MacGregor, who once advocated using lethal force to dissuade illegal immigrants from crossing the border, and Anthony Tata who once called President Barack Obama a "terrorist leader".
While the military as an institution prides itself as being a non-partisan and non-ideological entity, the institution is embroiled in a precarious situation between the Trump Administration and the incoming Biden Administration; as the country is coming no closer to any transitional phase.