knowing that by doing so you are starting World War III and it may mean the end of the world (assume this is a full scale nuclear response). You are in the US navy or air force, and yes you have been trained to follow orders--but when the time comes, would your moral compass and humanity allow you to do it?
Despite the Personel Reliability Program there was a significant percentage of officers who didn't in a test back in the Cold War days, if I remember correctly. Personally, I wouldn't take the job to begin with.
I like Bill's answer. I was military. I would honorably follow orders, knowing what following those orders meant and knowing what I was getting into by taking that position. Personally, though, I would never get myself in that position. Such a position was once offered to me. I was honorable in turning that position down because I would be incompetent, so to say, knowing that I could not do that job.
Has to be done. Hypothetical situation: suppose two evenly matched nuclear-equipped countries decide to launch simultaneously - the side with the most i won't push the buttons will allow their own country to suffer tremendous infrastructure damage and the killing of millions of their own people (maybe even their loved ones). These staffers after seeing the results of their non-action's will likely wish they had been braver especially after watching the other country physically invading (if there's anything left) to take control and impose their will.
If you're on nuke duty, you've gone through the Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) and have certified that you have no objections to such weapons or their use. Military personnel are subordinate to the civilian leaders that the voters elect. The President has to authorize a launch, and he's the commander in chief. Anyone with moral qualms is obligated to report them and get removed from that duty. You know the system and you know that there are possibilities for error...and you have to trust that the checks and balances above you are working to eliminate those. What you can't do is substitute your own judgment. The time for moral compass/humanity is when you sign on for that duty, or don't. You don't get to switch horses in midstream. If I were still serving and I got a validly formatted Emergency Action Message, the bird would fly. Fact. (I am resigned to you not liking this answer due to your preexisting biases. C'est la vie.)
Outside of Tucson, Arizona there is the last remaining Titan Missile silo. The silo and missile has been disabled and it is now a museum. A few months ago we went there for the tour. It is an interesting place, looks worst than the set of the 60's Star Trek shows, but a must see if you are ever in Tucson. The tour guide walked us though all the procedures of the base. Including the ones that would have released the missile. I was the chosen member of the tour who got to sit in the commander seat. The guide walked me though the ritual and I flipped the key. The rest of the procedure occurred, the beeping noises every thing except the deployment of the missile of course. It was the creepiest feeling I ever had. Just sitting in that seat (just seeing what this place looked like was scary), knowing that this was one of the places that controlled the fate of the world. Even knowing nothing was going to happen, I had second thoughts about doing it. After all the beeping stopped, I was weirded out about it. It is kinda a strange feeling flipping a switch on a Titan Missile. If it was real, there would be no turning it back. I was left with an empty feeling and a kind of fear because I just found it was sort of easy to do. I know I am one of the few people who can say I flipped the switch.....I would never do it again....I had some very deep thoughts about it this for days, I was almost haunted by it. I think if it was your job, you would have to put your morals aside to be in this position. Lets all just hope there never comes a day when someone is put in the position of questioning job duties vs. life as we know it.
