“I Do Solemnly Swear…”: The Constitutional Oath That Outlasts Every Administration

September 17th is Constitution Day, the day that we commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Delegates from 12 of the original 13 states had convened in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to refine the Articles of Confederation, the United States’ first governing document. At the convention, it was determined that the Articles were not sufficient for maintaining a federal government, and a new system was proposed - the democratic republic we know today.

After weeks of tense debate about the details of the Constitution, it was found to be finished in September, and it was signed by 39 of the 55 delegates. These signatures followed what is known as the Attestation Clause. Benjamin Franklin advocated for this measure as a show of endorsement of the document by those present at the convention.

While this act marked the end of the Constitutional Convention, it also marked an important beginning - the fight to convince at least two-thirds of the existing states to ratify the Constitution and officially establish the federal government system it proposed. By signing the Constitution, the delegates implicitly agreed to be defenders of the document throughout the intense state-level debates that followed.

Given how early in our country’s existence the Constitution was written, you may not be surprised to learn that 30 of the Constitution's 39 signers were Veterans of the Revolutionary War, having served either in the Continental Army or in local militias. Almost 7 years later, to the day, they committed to a new fight - convincing the states to ratify the Constitution.

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American Veterans shaped the Constitution and then fought for its establishment in 1787. Today’s American servicemen and women continue to fight in defense of the Constitution, taking an oath to protect and defend it as their official entry into the U.S. military.

Enlisted personnel and commissioned officers take slightly different oaths, each of which has gone through changes over the last 250 years to reach its current form. However, despite their differences, a commitment to the Constitution is given primacy in both.

The Enlisted Oath and the Oath of Office

Today, every enlisted service member takes the Oath of Enlistment just before departing for their initial training, and some ceremonially repeat it at reenlistment and promotion ceremonies.

Unlike enlisted service members, commissioned officers take virtually the same Oath of Office as many federal officeholders, including the Vice President and members of Congress.

Oath of Enlistment

I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

Oath of Office

I, [name], appointed a [rank] in the [branch], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Revolutionary Origins of US Military Oaths

The origins of both of these oaths can be traced back to the Revolutionary War, when Soldiers in the Continental Army entered into a verbal contract committing themselves to one year of service:

I have, this day, voluntarily enlisted myself, as a soldier, in the American Continental Army, for one year, unless sooner discharged: And I do bind myself to conform, in all instances, to such rules and regulations, as are, or shall be, established for the government of the said Army. (June 14, 1775)

In 1776, the Continental Congress approved Articles of War, which specified an official Oath of Enlistment, and later created an Oath of Officers. In the first official Oath of Enlistment, servicemen pledged to be true to the United States of America and to obey the orders of the Continental Congress and their commanding officers. Still quite short and sweet, but certainly stronger than its predecessor.

In contrast, the original Oath of Officers was much more explicit and detailed, requiring officers to acknowledge the independence of each of the thirteen colonies, individually by name, before renouncing the King of England and swearing to support and defend the colonies.

Once the Constitution was ratified and the first Congress met in 1789, the first order of business was passing an oath of fealty to the Constitution that military officers took, alongside many members of the federal and state governments. While this particular oath was short-lived for military officers, it did set a precedent that would return in later iterations - allegiance was sworn to the Constitution and to the United States’ legal frame of government, rather than to the nation broadly or to a single leader.

Beginning in 1790, both enlisted personnel and officers took the same oath, in which they swore “to bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America” rather than “to support the Constitution.” This remained the case until the Civil War, when the two oaths once again diverged.

The Officer’s Oath Changes During the Civil War

The Oath of Enlistment remained mostly unchanged over the next century and a half. However, in 1862, the military Oath of Office was changed significantly in response to the Civil War. The “Ironclad Test Oath” required military officers to pledge:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatsoever under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God.

This oath included a “background check” of sorts, requiring that officers swear that they had never supported the Confederacy and that they never would. While this portion of the oath was removed in the decades after the Civil War, three other changes have remained up to the current day.

The first is the added detail that enemies could be foreign or domestic. Again, this is clearly a response to the secession of the Confederate states, which prompted the Civil War.

Second, officers were now charged “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” This is actually two changes in one: a return to pledging an oath to the Constitution rather than just to the country, and a change from simply supporting the Constitution to also defending it.

Third, and final, the phrase “That I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion,” was added in hopes that this would guarantee loyalty and prevent defection. It also emphasizes the responsibility inherent to the position and that this responsibility must be taken on willingly.

The Oaths as We Know Them Today

In 1950, Congress approved the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), replacing the prior Articles of War and each branch’s varied laws and regulations. This brought about a small change in the oath - swapping the mention of the Articles of War for the UCMJ.

In 1962, one hundred years after the same change was made to the Officers' Oath, the phrase “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” was added to the Oath of Enlistment. This brought the two oaths more in line and endowed each member of the US military with a shared responsibility to uphold the Constitution.

Fundamentally Different, Similar in Spirit

The most fundamental difference between the Oath of Enlistment and the Armed Forces Oath of Office is the Obedience Clause. This is the portion of the Oath of Enlistment during which enlisted personnel swear to follow the orders of the President and their appointed officers.

Officers do not pledge obedience, but instead swear to “well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office.” This clause is the counterpart to the Obedience Clause in that it recognizes the authority of officers and imbues them with a responsibility to exercise that authority appropriately and legally. This also bestows upon officers the direct responsibility to uphold the Constitution, even if that requires them to deny a direct order.

While this is an important legal distinction, it’s worth noting that the spirit of supporting and defending the Constitution is given primacy in both oaths. In a hearing before the Congressional subcommittee writing the bill to update the Oath of Enlistment, retired Rear Admiral William R. Furlong testified specifically that both oaths should include this provision because “it would give the enlisted personnel the same full sense of responsibility to their country for the defense of the Constitution as is given by the oath required of officers.”

What the Oaths Mean to Servicemembers and Veterans

Each year, more than 150,000 new recruits enlist or commission in the US Armed Forces and commit themselves to support and defend the Constitution, almost 90% of them between the ages of 18 and 24. The average age of recruits is 21, actually trending higher than it has in the past.

These oaths represent a serious commitment to a cause far greater than oneself, yet many service members take it when they are barely legal adults. Some of them do so before they’re even allowed to drink. Their military careers then take them on a variety of different journeys which invariably impact their view of the oath they took as they reflect on it later.

In a 2012 article for Joint Base Langley-Eustis News, then-Chief Master Sgt. Joseph Romeo reflected on his own experience taking the oath:

“It seemed as if time stood still, because I mentally paused and reflected on the words I was repeating. I thought to myself, this is not a joke - this is real. Was I prepared to follow through on this oath? [...] I immediately felt a strong sense of patriotism. I felt as if I was invincible. […] I really felt a sense of belonging to something bigger than myself.”

Suzanne McCurdy, a 10-year Veteran of the US Air Force, shared her experience taking the Oath of Office when she commissioned at age 28.

“I remember feeling an incredible sense of pride, but more than that, I felt like I had found my calling,” she explained.

“I was serving my family, my friends, my community, and people I would never meet. There was something incredibly meaningful about knowing that the work we did was in service to others. I understood that taking the oath came with responsibility and sacrifice, but I also felt an enormous sense of purpose.”

McCurdy went on to explain the importance of the fact that her oath was to the Constitution, directly:

“The Constitution establishes the rights and freedoms of the American people, so when we swear to support and defend it, we are ultimately promising to protect those people and those principles, not simply a government, an administration, or an institution.”

For McCurdy, being a Veteran has made her oath and military experience more meaningful, as she now fully appreciates how much her service shaped who she is today.

She stated, "I may no longer wear the uniform, but that sense of responsibility and service that I felt when I first took the oath has stayed with me.”

The Oath Challenge

Representatives of the nonprofit organization Veterans for All Voters would definitely agree with McCurdy’s assertion that the oath stays with you. As Constitution Day approaches in this 250th year of the United States, Veterans for All Voters has called upon Veterans to join a social media campaign called the #OathChallenge, in which they reaffirm their oath to the Constitution and reflect on what the oath means to them.

They explain, “By renewing our oath in public, we show that our allegiance is to the Constitution, not to any other identity. We swear to a document and an ideal, to a promise and a duty that defines who we are and what we strive to become. It calls us to keep building the nation we serve, in uniform and long after.”

If you are a Veteran, will you take the #OathChallenge? Whether or not you decide to record a video, we’d love to hear your perspective in the comments here on VeteranLife.

“A Republic, If You Can Keep It.”

According to the official recorded notes, at the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, someone asked Benjamin Franklin, “What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” His response was, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

While the most evident and immediate interpretation of this response is that he meant there would be a republic if the states could be convinced to ratify the Constitution, it also points to a core truth of the American Experiment. The republic and the Constitution that defines it must be continuously protected.

With the oath they take upon joining the U.S. military, service members become more than just defenders of the nation; they become keepers of the republic and key supporters of the Constitution, which upholds it.