What are the 11 General orders

Orders to Sentry is the official title of a set of rules governing sentry (guard or watch) duty in the United States Armed Forces. While any guard posting has rules that may go without saying ("Stay awake," for instance), these orders are carefully detailed and particularly stressed in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard. Also known as the 11 General Orders, the list is meant to cover any possible scenario a sentry might encounter on duty.

All recruits learn these orders verbatim while at recruit training and are expected to retain the knowledge to use for the remainder of their military careers.[1] It is very common for a drill instructor or (after boot camp) an inspecting officer to ask a question such as, "What is your sixth general order?" and expect an immediate (and correct) reply.

US Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard[edit]

The General Orders for Sentries are quite similar between the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, the main differences being the titles of positions referenced in the orders. The Navy Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NJROTC), Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) also use the following General Orders to the Sentry.

The U.S. Department of the Navy gives the General Orders for the U.S. Marine Corps[2] as follows:

1. To take charge of this post and all government property in view.
2. To walk my post in a military manner, keeping always on the alert and observing everything that takes place within sight or hearing.
3. To report all violations of orders I am instructed to enforce.
4. To repeat all calls from posts more distant from the guardhouse than my own.
5. To quit my post only when properly relieved.
6. To receive, obey, and pass on to the sentry who relieves me all orders from the commanding officer, officer of the day, officers, and noncommissioned officers of the guard only.[3]
7. To talk to no one except in the line of duty.
8. To give the alarm in case of fire or disorder.
9. To call the corporal of the guard in any case not covered by instructions.
10. To salute all officers and all colors and standards not cased.
11. To be especially watchful at night and during the time for challenging, to challenge all persons on or near my post, and allow no one to pass without proper authority.

General Orders for the Navy and Coast Guard are essentially the same, except for the wording of order numbers 6 and 9:[citation needed]

• 6. To receive, obey and pass on to the sentry who relieves me, all orders from the Commanding Officer, Command Duty Officer, Officer of the Deck, and Officers and Petty Officers of the Watch only.
• 9. To call the Officer of the Deck in any case not covered by instructions.

General Orders of the Coast Guard:

• 6 is similar, however there is a difference in the officers.: To receive, obey and pass on the sentry who relieves me, all orders from the Commanding Officer, Field Officer of the day, Officer of the day, and Officers and Petty Officers of the Watch.
• 9. To call the Petty Officer of the watch in any case not covered by instructions.

U.S. Army[edit]

The U.S. Army now uses a condensed form of orders, with three basic instructions. Previously it used the same eleven general orders as the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines.[4]

All cadets enrolled in Navy JROTC will be expected to know the "Orders to the Sentry". These 11 Orders to the Sentry will be asked of our cadets regularly while in the program. 

They are as follows:

1. To take charge of this post and all government property in view.
2. To walk my post in a military manner, keeping always on the alert, and observing everything that takes place within sight or hearing.
3. To report all violations of orders I am instructed to enforce.
4. To repeat all calls from posts more distant from the guardhouse or the quarterdeck than my own.
5. To quit my post only when properly relieved.
6. To receive, obey, and pass on to the sentry who relieves me, all orders from the commanding officer, command duty officer, officer of the day, officer of the deck, and officers and petty officers of the watch only.
7. To talk to no one except in the line of duty.
8. To give the alarm in case of fire or disorder.
9. To call the corporal of the guard or officer of the deck in any case not covered by instructions.
10. To salute all officers, and all colors and standards not cased.
11. To be especially watchful at night, and during the time for challenging, to challenge all persons on or near my post to allow no one to pass without proper authority.

General orders in the U.S. military are the most basic responsibility given to a service member. They are a framework on which the entirety of their service is constructed and the general orders vary from service to service. These are the most rudimentary of standing orders to follow when more specific orders are not available or issued.

Generally speaking, every branch of service has unique general orders, but they are all very close in purpose. Some branches have 11 general orders, while others have just three general orders. For example, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force have only three general orders while the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps each have 11 general orders.

The general orders for the Army and Air Force were condensed and simplified some years ago, but initially they also had 11 general orders. It is believed the U.S. Space Force follows, for now, the general orders of the U.S. Air Force, but they can likely also draft 11 general orders like the naval services.

Army General Orders
1. I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.
2. I will obey my special orders and perform all my duties in a military manner.
3. I will report violations of my special orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in my instructions to the commander of the relief.

The Army’s general orders are very straight forward and designed to give sentries a base of directions. These orders tend to be required memorization for trainees who are placed on guard duty during training. That is likely why the Army reduced from 11 general orders to three the number of general orders needed to be memorized.

Air Force General Orders
1. I will take charge of my post and protect personnel and property for which I am responsible, until properly relieved.
2. I will report all violations of orders that I am entrusted to enforce and call my superior in any case not covered by instructions.
3. I will sound the alarm in any case of disorder or emergency.

Likewise, the Air Force’s general orders are very basic as well and these are usually utilized by Air Force Security Forces since they are the military occupation primarily charged with protecting Air Force assets and resources. Similar to the Army, the Air Force thinned from 11 general orders the number of standing directives sentries need to memorize.

However, in the naval branches, including the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, there are 11 general orders that recruits must memorize. Normally, during basic training, recruits must memorize these 11 general orders as part of their education in boot camp.

The U.S. Coast Guard, although not officially a military branch until it is mobilized under the operational control of the U.S. Navy, also has 11 general orders, but the verbiage differs just slightly. Similarly, the Navy’s and the Marine Corps’ 11 general orders are almost exactly the same except the duty titles for the Marines’ 11 general orders are different than the duty titles in the Navy’s 11 general orders.

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