In an era of increased sensitivity toward the US military and politics (from Facebook to reprimand to discharge), it was unusual to read a report in which US Air Force Academy cadets participated in a debate on the presidential candidates, calling for the re-election of their Commander-in-Chief:
The event, held Oct. 29, in the heat of the run-up to the presidential Read more
While Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey is “worried” about the politicization of the US military, the Department of Defense has published some starkly pointed articles praising the repeal of the politically-charged policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
This largely mirrors the narrative in the mainstream press — everybody is “cool” with homosexuals serving in the US military (and think of the children…). Amazingly, little attention is given to the voices saying its not as rose-colored as some seem to think. The Stars and Stripes pointed out one negative finding otherwise unreported in the press. Elaine Donnelly got a single line. Only the FRC has noted the Palm Center buried their own data showing 20% of units that had a homosexual “come out” after repeal had a negative impact as a result — data that is hardly a “non-event.”
In “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Never Mattered,” a US Marine Corporal took to the Read more
Sometimes the headlines just write themselves.
American Atheists Condemn the Decision to Include God in the 2012 Democratic Platform
At least there’s no question as to how they feel about that.
If you’re a member of the US military and you’ve ever Facebook “Liked” President Barack Obama or Governor Mitt Romney, you’d better pay attention, because the Department of Defense just issued guidance that restricts that very thing.
Contrary to the conclusions of a prior article, the US DoD has just recently published official guidance on “political activities” in association with social media, and they’re fairly explicit. The undated but very recently released “2012 Public Affairs Guidance for Political Campaigns and Elections” says:
An [active duty] Service member may generally express his or her own personal views on public issues or political candidates via social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or personal Blogs, much the same as they would be permitted to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper.
Update: Based on new information, some conclusions in this article have been updated here.
Every now and then members of the military post official articles that might best be understood as “public service announcements” for their fellow troops. They often cover high interest issues (like politics, social media, and religion, see below) or regulations that are the topic du jour. Unfortunately, because these articles carry no weight (unless they are written by a senior Air Force leader issuing official guidance), they can often add confusion to the issue they mean to clarify — especially if they’re wrong.
For example, a Public Affairs troop recently wrote “Rock the vote, but beware of guidelines,” which was a combination of encouraging voting while cautioning on the restrictions on political activity: Read more
An official Air Force article cautioned military servicemembers from reading too much into the “one time exception to DOD policy” that let uniformed troops arch in a homosexual parade:
Recently, media interest has focused on the one-time exception to Department of Defense policy which allowed service members to march in a pride parade in uniform.
All military members must keep in mind that Read more
The US Marines have removed a “public service announcement” they had published that used the case of former Marine Sgt Gary Stein as an example of what not to do in an election year.
Mike Barton, deputy director of public affairs at Cherry Point, said featuring Stein’s story in its PSA was meant to serve as a cautionary tale Read more
US Rep Duncan Hunter, R-CA, has called on Col Christopher Dowling to end the administrative discharge proceedings against Marine Sgt Gary Stein. Dowling had recommended Stein be administratively separated after he allegedly violated the UCMJ in his activities on Facebook.
Hunter, a Marine reservist and combat veteran, sent a letter to Col. Christopher Dowling on Tuesday urging the Corps to withdraw the discharge proceedings against Stein.
The board was supposed to meet last Saturday but was rescheduled to later this week.