racedo, the illegal orders I refer to were of the "Subvert the airworthiness regs but sign them off as complied with" type. The requirement of all who serve in HM Forces, from Private to Field Marshal and their equivalents in the other Services, is that all illegal orders are to be refused but then reported up the CoC. This isn't as easy as it sounds but them's the rules.
"I was only following orders", has been tried and found wanting. In extremis people were hung for it at Nuremburg.
With respect, Local Govt is somewhat different to a fire fight in a sandy place. Being risk averse in such circumstances has its own drawbacks. The answer is training, lots of it. Our Armed Forces are rightly renowned for their professionalism. They are human though with human frailties. Short of using pre programmed robots (what could possibly go wrong?) mistakes will be made. Nonetheless there is a difference between obeying an improper order in the heat of action and doing so in an MOD office block. It seems at the moment the default is to chase after the former transgressors. Time perhaps to look at the latter!