Veterans Reportedly Open Mail, Find They've Been Ordered to Stop 'Disrespecting' Biden, VP Harris and Members of Congress
The Western Journal ^ | 29 August 2021 | Jack Davis
Posted on 8/29/2021, 7:38:00 PM by Alas Babylon!
Amid the crisis taking place in Afghanistan, the Office of Naval Intelligence found time to remind active duty and retired service members not to say anything unflattering about the president’s deadly debacle.
“Given the heightened political and social atmosphere surrounding Afghanistan, it is important to remind our uniformed personnel (active duty and reservists on temporary active duty) and military retirees of their responsibilities and obligations under Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and Department of Defense Directive 1344.10,” the email read.
***Veterans Reportedly Open Mail, Find They’ve Been Ordered to Stop ‘Disrespecting’ Biden, VP Harris and Members of Congress
The Western Journal ^ | 29 August 2021 | Jack Davis
Posted on 8/29/2021, 7:38:00 PM by Alas Babylon!
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From the comments section...
The cited part of the UCMJ applies only to active duty OFFICERS, not to the broad universe of the military cited in this article, and NOT to retirees.
“When a military member is wearing the uniform and receiving a salary from the Department of Defense, that military member has essentially signed away his First Amendment rights granted by the Constitution. The exact words of the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 88 - Contempt Toward Public Officials states: “Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
The main reason for this regulation is to keep active military members who have access to major weapons of war to ever get involved in politics. Once they are retired or resigned their commission and a civilian citizen, they may partake in such political arguments in both written or spoken word. With the advent of social media is can be a slippery slope for military members to discuss such matters and could even be subject to UCMJ violations. That is why you will find military members refrain from that activity or have incognito social media accounts.”
This site does not permit links, but you can put “Uniform code of military justice Article 88-Contempt toward Public Officials” in a search engine and find the above information.
Guess that I’m not important enough, haven’t gotten my email yet...
According to the way that the reg is written, only Commissioned Officers are forbidden from saying adverse things about the chain of command and certain politicians while in the military. NCOs are not covered by this reg, Warrant Officers used to not be, but are now considered Commissioned I think.