Active Duty support for the political process

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Eileen Meier
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  The 2012 political season is in full swing. There are many different things to keep in mind before hitting the polls.

Engaging and supporting our political process is encouraged. In fact, it's a key cornerstone of our democracy. Some political activities are prohibited but there are many ways Airmen can support their favorite candidates.

So far, Moody has had no incidents of Airmen endorsing political candidates against regulations, but keeping informed is important just like with any other Air Force regulation.

"Violation of lawful general regulation could go from a Letter of Counseling to a court marshal," said Capt. Jeremy Martin, Moody's installation voting assistance officer. "You're allowed to express personal opinion up to a certain point. For example, putting a bumper sticker on your car is acceptable, but putting things like that in your workspace is where you cross the line."

A frequent issue the military has come across is members wearing their uniform to political rallies and showing support for political candidates on social networking sites. This is prohibited in all services per DoD policy 3.1.

"The political rallying applies across the board, you shouldn't be at a political rally in uniform, but it's the most common infraction" said Martin, "It can lead to negative opinions about the military."

"There are restrictions placed on our freedom of speech," said Martin, "But I don't think they go so far to interfere with our abilities as American's to support a candidate."

Although several restrictions are enforced while in uniform, not all activities are prohibited to military members. There are several examples of what to do and what not to do when it comes to political expression while in military uniform and out. The lists below are common examples:

Do
· Vote in uniform.
· Promote and encourage other military members to vote.
· Sign a petition for specific legislative action, done only as a private citizen and not as a representative of the Armed Forces.
· Join a political club.
· Attend political fundraisers, meetings, rallies and debates in civilian clothes.
· Display a political bumper sticker on the member's privately owned vehicle.
· Participate fully in the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

Don't
· Do any of the listed acceptable actions in uniform, other than voting.
· Use social networking sites to show support of a political candidate (for example, you cannot 'like' a political candidate's Facebook page), unless the user's privacy settings are set so that only the user themselves can view it.
· Display political items supporting a candidate in a military work space.
· Display a partisan political sign, banner or other visible device in military housing or privatized housing.
· March or ride in a political parade in uniform.
· Display anything larger than a bumper sticker on a privately owned vehicle.
· Solicit or engage in fundraising activities.
· Participate in any radio, television or other program supporting a political candidate.

The only way a member of the Armed Forces should be supporting a presidential election in uniform is when the member goes to vote. Otherwise, any acceptable participation of political activity will be done out of the military uniform.

Wearing the uniform by Airmen, including retired members and Reservists at any time for purposes other than official duty is prohibited.

For more information on rules and regulations on endorsing political candidates, Airmen can contact their unit instillation voting assistance office as well as the bases' voting assistance officer. Another resource linked here is available for finding detailed information on regulations.