Objecting to War

In order to qualify as a conscientious objector, you have to object to participating in "war in any form." Although the DoD says that your belief has to be "firm [and] fixed," this doesn't mean you have to be sure what you would do in every situation, or that you can't reserve the right to change your mind. But you do have to object to all war now.

Objecting to war isn't the same as disliking war, or being saddened by it. Lots of people, including a lot of generals and admirals, have hated war. But they weren't conscientious objectors. To be a conscientious objector, you must feel so strongly that war is wrong that you can't be a part of it. If your conscience won't let you remain in the military, or if it won't let you use weapons, then you may qualify for conscientious objector status.

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