In the ongoing saga of the US military and social media, SSgt Suneel Mehta is reportedly going to be punished for making a racially charged “tweet” referencing the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman controversy.

The Twitter message came to light when an anonymous person “reported” it to the Marine Corps Times.

Mehta apologized, deleted the tweet, deleted his Twitter account, and then abandoned social media altogether:

“I see how social media is becoming such a huge problem,” he said. “To me, the safest thing to do is just leave social media alone.”

It appears he’s still going to face sanction.  For their part, the Marines said there is “ample” guidance for Marines to conduct themselves appropriately on social media.

Official Marine Corps policy on the use of social media provides ample guidance for Marines to conduct themselves as professionals, and we, as Marines should refrain from posting comments that are distasteful or reflect negatively on the Marine Corps.

Interestingly, MajGen Vaughn Ary, the US Marine Corps’ top lawyer, seems to disagree, and has called for additional guidance on the “responsible” use of social media by military members.