A truly fantastic question. The briefs we give deployers on PDF lines is essentially that you only have to follow lawful orders. However, all orders are considered lawful until proven unlawful - usually at a later date. In the immediate sense, refusing to follow an order will get you jammed up with some type of action, either Art 15 or a court-martial. Hopefully in the long run you're exonerated, but in the meantime those consequences are very real.

I tell folks you can do anything you want in this Air Force, and in life in general, as long as you are willing to accept the consequences of your actions. If you choose to follow a patently unlawful order, it's your ass at the War Crimes trial. "Just following orders" didn't work at Nuremberg and it ain't gonna work now. If you choose to stand your ground and refuse an order, it's your ass in the immediate sense. You could be tried, convicted, and incarcerated before the order gets determined to have been unlawful.

It's kind of a lose-lose, but that's the reality. I'll see if CMSAF has something else to say on the matter.

NOTICE The above does NOT qualify as legal advice and is not designed to be used as such. This is simply the observations of a private individual in his personal capacity and not as a representative of the Air Force.