Before posting, I talked with the commanding officer of the unit. He advised me that the DOD is considering it humor without intent to denigrate an elected official. Of course this could always change. I personally believe we should be prepared to give these fine gentlemen all the cover we can in the event "someone" gets his nose out of joint. The Vice President was as high up the chain of command I could go.
Can you imagine what happened when Secretary Rumsfeld first saw the photo? He must have split a gut laughing, "Those are my troopers."
Good! After all they had NO IDEA it would go so far or have the impact that it did.