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LAKIN TAKEN INTO CUSTODY

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin accused of missing a plane, refusing to deploy to Afghanistan
Foundation: Certification, birth announcements not the same as birth certificate Honolulu newspapers, Hawaii's Republican governor have said Obama was born there
Military law expert: It's unlikely court will address Obama's birthplace during court-martial

(CNN) -- Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin is a poster soldier for the so-called birther movement, but for 17 years prior to his court-martial proceedings, the flight surgeon served around the globe, racking up a chest full of medals.

Military prosecutors allege that the Colorado native intentionally missed a plane in April after disobeying four lawful orders from superiors. Lakin has said he refused to deploy to Afghanistan until he sees proof that President Obama was born in the U.S.

In a YouTube explanation posted before he was charged, Lakin said he had no choice but the "distasteful one of inviting my own court-martial."

"If [Obama] is ineligible, then indeed, all orders are illegal because all orders have the origin with the commander in chief," he said.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice says the maximum punishment for both offenses -- missing his plane and disobeying lawful orders -- is a dishonorable discharge and up to two years in confinement. A guilty verdict could also result in forfeiture of his pay, which totals $7,959 a month, according to a charge sheet provided by a group sponsoring his defense.

Lakin is among 27 percent of Americans who doubt or deny that Obama is American-born, according to a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. They compose the birther movement, which demands that Obama present a birth certificate signed by the doctor who delivered him in 1961.

Obama has made public an unsigned "certification of live birth," which birthers claim is not the same as a birth certificate. However, two Honolulu, Hawaii, newspapers have presented birth announcements for Obama, and the state's Republican governor has confirmed that the president was born in the Aloha State.

In December, Col. Robin Swope, chief of the Army's administrative law division, told Lakin in a letter that his Article 138 complaint, the avenue by which troops report perceived wrongs by their commanding officers, was "deficient."

The complaint incorrectly targeted Gen. George Casey, Army chief of staff, Swope wrote. Not only was Casey not Lakin's commanding officer, Swope wrote, but "the wrongs you complain of relate to matters of law and not the discretionary acts or omissions of a commanding officer."