RNCC Violates Code of Military Conduct
By Byron LaMasters
The RNCC is bragging about the number of veterans and active military personell serving as delegates at their convention this week (emphasis mine):
Americans who served in the military will be well represented at the upcoming Republican convention, more so than at last month's Democratic convention or in the U.S. population overall, according to the GOP.
About 15 percent of the 4,800-plus delegates and alternates to the convention in New York are veterans, organizers said Monday. An additional 3 percent are active military personnel.
Census Bureau estimates show that roughly 12 percent of U.S. residents in 2002 were military veterans. About 11.5 percent of delegates at the Democratic convention in Boston were veterans, a record high, according to the Democratic National Committee.
That's great that active military personnel are supporting President Bush. There's just a slight problem with that. As Eric Alterman points out, it violates the military code of conduct for active military personnel to participate in a political campaign or convention:
Is the Republican Party in violation of the US military’s rules on the participation in party politics by active duty military?
It sure looks that way. The RNC convention week is boasting that it has 144 active duty military delegates at the convention or three percent of the total. That information can be found here.
Meanwhile, according to DOD Directive 1344.10, which can be found here this is a violation of the code of military conduct. It explicitly says:
A member on active duty shall not...
Participate in partisan political management, campaigns, or conventions (unless attending a convention as a spectator when not in uniform).
But the Republican Party itself is claiming that the active duty personnel are not spectators but delegates. What’s going on here? Why are the Republicans encouraging our soldiers to violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice and its stated rules of political engagement? And why for goodness sakes, aren’t these rules being enforced? Hey MSNBC.com, can we put a reporter or two on this story please?
Why do Republicans support violating the code of military conduct on political participation, but not on "Don't Ask, don't Tell"? I'll wait patiently for their response.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at August 30, 2004 12:23 AM
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Is there a way of getting the names of these delegates and referring them to the appropriate prosecutorial authorities in JAG?
If you can get a dishonorable discharge for being gay, why not for being Republican? :)
Imagine the shame of coming home to your family and have to admit, "Mom, Dad, I got kicked out of the Army for being a . . . . Republican."
Mr. Alterman states the DoD directive correctly. In fact, it's more serious than a code of conduct violation, the legal enforcement of which is questionable, it's a violation of DoD rules. DoD rules constitute a lawful order and the failure to abide by them is prosecutable.
I know the DoD rules on this quite well. I was as politically active as the rules allowed when I was on active duty. Being a delegate to a partisan convention is not allowed.
There's another possibility that you haven't mentioned. The people at the GOP who prepared the delegate list and the press release may be calling reservists "active duty." I'm speculating, but I think the overwhelming majority of people on active duty know the rules.
