The answer is simple, though forgotten in Michael New's case. The military judge erred by finding that the order to deploy to Macedonia was lawful. NEW may not defend against the lawfulness of the order. To do so, a nonjunticiable political question would be involved. NEW from defending himself on the grounds that the order was not lawful.
Moral courage is as important as physical courage.
It takes special courage to support unpopular decisions and to make it difficult for others to do the wrong thing. And Michael New is holding on for his life, his state, his country, and his God. Here we have a boy, from our own neighborhood, who has been cashiered out of the US Army because he swore to defend our Constitution against domestic enemies. Here we have a young man who wanted to make a military career out of the Army he loved but has been drummed out because he refused to obey an illegal order, an order to serve under a UN command to which he did not swear allegiance.