The US Marine’s top lawyer has recommended the Department of Defense update its policies on political activities to reflect social media.

[Maj. Gen. Vaughn Ary’s] letter stated that Marine Corps staff was being instructed to contact the Defense Department to recommend an update to “provide service members with additional guidance on how to use social media in a responsible manner.”

The Marine Times notes the likely reason for the call for policy change:

Social media sites are posing new challenges to military leadership. Stein is not the only Marine to vent his disdain for their commander in chief on Facebook…

As noted previously, military regulations and Department of Defense policies have not explicitly ‘caught up’ to the age of social media.  US Rep Duncan Hunter has called the current regulations

both vague and contradicting in the context of new `social media.’

Contrary to some beliefs, the relationship between the military and politics has not always been the same:

There was a time that commissioned officers were encouraged not to vote, Mr. [Eugene] Fidell [who teaches military justice at Yale Law School] points out. That has since changed, and US troops are sent absentee ballots when fighting wars overseas.

A 3-man administrative board has recommended the US Marines dismiss SGT Gary Stein with an other-than-honorable discharge.

[Prosecutor Capt. John] Torresala argued that Stein’s behavior repeatedly violated Pentagon policy that limits the free speech rights of service members, and said he should be dismissed after ignoring warnings from his superiors about his postings.

It is worth noting that Stein also had a Marine lawyer who defended him just as strongly:

Capt. James Baehr, calling the Stein case the most important of the hundreds he has handled, said that restricting Marines from engaging in political speech makes them less than first-class citizens…

Baehr said that Marine brass will make the Marine Corps look vindictive by seeking to oust Stein just months from the end of his enlistment…

Stein’s attempts thus far to obtain an injunction halting the proceedings have failed, though a hearing is scheduled for later this week.