<![CDATA[political activity - Philip D. Cave]]> https://www.court-martial.com/blog/tags/political-activity/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 16:45:09 GMT en-us <![CDATA[Military and political activity]]> https://www.court-martial.com/blog/military-and-political-activity/ https://www.court-martial.com/blog/military-and-political-activity/ Sat, 09 Oct 2010 17:06:53 GMT All service members are encouraged to vote. You can make donations. You can attend political functions, but not in uniform. Here the Marine Times points out that there are some considerations and limits on political activity. DoDD 1344.10. In short, you are barred from doing online what you can’t do in person. Sgt. Gary Stein,…

]]> All service members are encouraged to vote. You can make donations. You can attend political functions, but not in uniform.

Here the Marine Times points out that there are some considerations and limits on political activity.

DoDD 1344.10.

In short, you are barred from doing online what you can’t do in person. Sgt. Gary Stein, a meteorologist with 1st Intelligence Battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif., was warned by superiors in the spring that his work to launch the “Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots” group on Facebook came close to violating DoD political speech guidelines.

You can still express an opinion.

Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper expressing the member’s personal views on public issues or political candidates, if such action is not part of an organized letter-writing campaign or a solicitation of votes for or against a political party or partisan political cause or candidate. If the letter identifies the member as on active duty (or if the member is otherwise reasonably identifiable as a member of the Armed Forces), the letter should clearly state that the views expressed are those of the individual only and not those of the Department of Defense (or Department of Homeland Security for members of the Coast Guard).

Here’s one that comes up from time to time with inappropriate bumper sticker scrapings dictated by the MP’s. You can:

Display a political bumper sticker on the member’s private vehicle.

]]> <![CDATA[Clothed in the cloth]]> https://www.court-martial.com/blog/clothed-in-the-cloth/ https://www.court-martial.com/blog/clothed-in-the-cloth/ Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:40:34 GMT Politicians have always sought to wrap themselves in the military and the flag. The recent crisis of political identity has various politicians mistating or failing to correct their military record. Here is a reminder to those in uniform that active duty military have some restrictions on what they can say or do in the political…

]]> Politicians have always sought to wrap themselves in the military and the flag. The recent crisis of political identity has various politicians mistating or failing to correct their military record. Here is a reminder to those in uniform that active duty military have some restrictions on what they can say or do in the political fights. I posted on this earlier, but here is a Navy Times report that:

The Pentagon said Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk has been cautioned twice for improperly mingling politics with his military service, but Kirk’s campaign denied any improper conduct Tuesday. The Defense Department said Monday night that Kirk, a commander in the Navy Reserve, was warned after two incidents of political activity while he was on active duty. Before being allowed to go on active duty again in Afghanistan, Kirk was required to sign a statement acknowledging he knew to avoid all political work.

A writer in IndependentMail.com has this to say:

As a former member of the United States military, I am disturbed by the current political commercial portraying a U.S. Army soldier endorsing U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett for South Carolina governor. Although I assume the “soldier” is a paid actor, Rep. Barrett, as a former member of the U.S. military, should be fully aware that such activity portrayed by the actor would, if an actual soldier, be in direct violation of U.S. Department of Defense Directive Number 1344.10. Section 4.1.2 of this directive expressly prohibits the actions portrayed by Rep. Barrett’s actor. For such a “soldier” to engage in this commercial would be to subject himself to court-martial.

Each service has their own regulations in addition to the DODD referenced above.

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