"We follow orders or people die!"
My brother came up with an interesting, albeit sinister theory. Regarding this quote from Colonel Jessup when he took the stand.
He believes the aforementioned statement was an unconscious confession from the Colonel's part. In other words. He's basically admitting that private Santiago's death was a result of him not following orders by breaking the chain of command. Something like that.
Liked I said. It's pretty dark theory.