They can’t just quit. They’re under a signed contract, which can be penalized with jail time if breached. Refusing orders is also not as simple as it sounds. Each soldier has a duty to refuse an unlawful order. However, if you disobey a direct order, and it is later determined to have been a lawful one, you will now be punished for failing to obey orders, might be a slap on the wrist, might be a dishonorable discharge, or could even be a court martial with jail time.
For the orders part, I believe there is a JAG hotline to call and get a “ruling” or advice. That would in theory take the legal ramifications of the decision off the guardsman. But I don’t know how well that actually works in practice. It is unlikely to be a smooth as it sounds since the person on the phone doesn’t want to put their skin on the line either.
They can’t just quit. They’re under a signed contract, which can be penalized with jail time if breached. Refusing orders is also not as simple as it sounds. Each soldier has a duty to refuse an unlawful order. However, if you disobey a direct order, and it is later determined to have been a lawful one, you will now be punished for failing to obey orders, might be a slap on the wrist, might be a dishonorable discharge, or could even be a court martial with jail time.
For the orders part, I believe there is a JAG hotline to call and get a “ruling” or advice. That would in theory take the legal ramifications of the decision off the guardsman. But I don’t know how well that actually works in practice. It is unlikely to be a smooth as it sounds since the person on the phone doesn’t want to put their skin on the line either.