1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

I urge you to contact Admiral Richard Correll, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, and remind him of his legal and constitutional obligation to refuse any unlawful order - including any order to employ nuclear weapons that does not meet the criteria of necessity, distinction, and proportionality under the Law of Armed Conflict. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and longstanding U.S. military doctrine, no service member, including the officers in the nuclear chain of command, is obligated to follow an illegal order. This duty does not disappear at the highest levels of command; it is most critical there. At a moment of heightened political instability, Congress has a responsibility to reinforce this norm directly with the officers who hold it. Please reach out to Admiral Correll and make clear that civilian oversight, legal accountability, and the oath to the Constitution - not to any individual - remain the bedrock of our nuclear command structure.