What oath do Marine officers take upon commissioning?

• A. An oath to protect and defend the President of the United States.
• B. An oath to support and defend the Constitution and to obey the orders of the President and the officers appointed above them.
• C. An oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and to obey the orders of the President and the officers appointed above them.
• D. An oath to serve the Marine Corps above all else.

Answer: (C)

The oath binds a Marine officer’s duty to the Constitution of the United States and to obey the orders of the President and the officers appointed over them. This emphasizes loyalty to the constitutional framework and to the legitimate chain of command, not to a person or to the service branch above all else. The exact phrasing uses “the Constitution of the United States” and “the officers appointed over me,” which is why this option is the correct one. The other ideas—vowing to protect the President personally or pledging allegiance to the Marine Corps above all—don’t reflect the official oath, and a version that uses less precise wording for the Constitution is also not the standard form.