On the rapper, Army Times reports:

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Eric Bloom said Saturday that top brass decided to discharge Hall instead of taking him to trial in part because he admitted his guilt.

Army Times noted this context for the case:

Army lawyers concede that Hall never took physical action against any troops. His threat came the month after Maj. Nidal Hassan allegedly killed 13 people in a shooting spree at Ft. Hood, Texas — a period when the Pentagon was taking extra precautions about potentially violent soldiers.

Stars & Stripes reports:

A soldier charged with making threats to other soldiers in a rap song he wrote to protest his stop-loss will be discharged from the military. Spc. Marc A. Hall, of the 1st Heavy Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, will receive an other-than-honorable discharge from the Army, reduction to E-1 and will also lose a “substantial number” of military and veteran benefits, according to a statement issued Saturday by U.S. Division-Center in Baghdad. Hall has been in confinement for the past four months, most recently before standing trial in Kuwait, the release states. As part of his discharge deal, which came after charges were referred on March 30, Hall acknowledged he was guilty of at least one of the five offenses he faced, according to the release. The convening authority for the case, Maj. Gen. Terry A. Wolff, accepted Hall’s plea after considering the amount of time he had already spent in jail, his acknowledgement of guilt, prior service and the benefits Hall will lose, the release states.

Politics Daily reports:

The Army will court martial a lieutenant colonel who refuses to deploy to Afghanistan because he won’t accept orders from President Obama, whom he considers unqualified to be commander in chief, military officials said Wednesday.

OC Weekly reports:

​Gary Stein, a 24-year-old active duty Marine Corps sergeant based at Camp Pendeton, created his own Tea Party group, then announced its arrival on the national Tea Party scene in a press release. Two days later, some of his “brothers” are calling for a court martial.

Why would a highly placed, decorated Army officer set to be promoted to colonel risk court-martial by refusing to obey orders?

Military.com reports.

An Army flight surgeon apparently is sticking to his vow not to deploy until he is satisfied that President Barack Obama is a “natural born” citizen. Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin did not report for duty at Fort Campbell, Ky. as ordered today, and a spokesman for the post said it’s not likely he will.

On a different, but perhaps related note, TPM reports:

The Tea Party movement has gained a foothold in the armed forces. A new Tea Party group, Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots, has grown quickly since being launched last month by an active duty Marine Corps sergeant.

Apparently he’s not read the Department of the Navy regulations on political activity, especially while in uniform or using your military affiliation; although it appears he may have received some counselings.

In promoting the Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots, Stein has raised the possibility of disobeying presidential orders.