I enlisted in the Navy a couple months ago and I’ve been wondering if being enlisted puts any particular limits on my civic/politcal invovlement?
Aside from the obvious not being able to run for public office, and not making threats againest the president(which is illegal anyway).
Federal employees are subject to the Hatch Act. However, I am not sure if service members are subject to this or not. I’m sure someone will be along who knows. You should contact your ethics office and ask what restrictions you are under.
After digging a bit more, I found this. Looks like DOD Directive 1344.10 is what you are looking for.
Oops. Meant to include a link.
Clear enough.
Dag Otto, you’re a lifesaver. I’m a civil servant out at China Lake, and I was having a conversation with a co-worker this morning about political involvement by federal employees. For the life of me, I couldn’t recall the name of the Hatch Act.
Interestingly, while you may not participate, I may. As a member of the Guard, I am eligible to run for office as long as I am not on Active Duty for a prescribed period of time (270+ days).
If you ever wondered how a Representative or a Senator could be in the military and still function in their position, that is how. US Senate, here I come.
Also, you can still get involved at your local anti-war protest all you want. As long as you’re not collecting money, performing paid work, or in uniform, you can do all the political stuff you want.
Interestingly, Lyndon Johnson did something similar, though he was first elected to Congress and then appointed as an officer in the Naval Reserve. He remained in the Reserves until he resigned upon becoming President after Kennedy’s assasination. I don’t know if the laws and regulations have changed since then to prevent members of Congress serving in the Reserves.
US Military and Civil employees must recieve clearance for certain types of outside activities. There is generally plenty of guidance provided on these things, including mandated ethics training.
For example, if I wrote a letter to the local paper and said that, IMHO, Bush has done a poor job per the Iraq war, but do not identify myself as a member of the US military or invoke the Navy, would there be any problems with this?
Other then perhaps my recruiter giving me a dirty look next time I see him…
The UCMJ prohibits you from saying anything negative about the President or about the United States, in any context. I can look it up in my Air Force Basic Military Training Study Guide later, if I can remember, and give you an article number. Although you’ve probably signed something at MEPS already that bounds you to the laws of the UCMJ, they don’t really expect you to live by it until they show you a video about it in Basic. It sounds like you’re not there yet. I wouldn’t go doing anything real stupid, but I bet if you sent a Letter to the Editor they wouldn’t hunt you down at this point. It’s not a smart thing to do once you’re really in, but I doubt the military has people assigned to each major city matching their recruits list against the names in the local Letters to the Editor.
BTW, if you don’t agree with what the military’s doing in Iraq, get out NOW. I mean it. Don’t commit to the Navy if you’re not ready to pound sand and stand behind any future president no matter how much you like or dislike him/her.