There are specific rules the military members must follow that your typical American citizen generally doesn’t have to concern themselves with. Servicemembers aren’t allowed to publicly speak out against the government in their service capacity or participate in political events while in uniform. They even must exercise caution in the sun as receiving a severe sunburn could be considered damaging government equipment. It’s true; I skirted the line on that last one after taking a trip to Belize after one of my deployments to Afghanistan. However, servicemembers still have all the same rights as your typical American. It wouldn’t make much sense to force Americans to lay down their lives for their country, for their Constitution, only to be told the Constitution doesn’t apply to them. And yet, that appears to be what happened at Minot Air Force Base. The base sent a text warning servicemembers of possible violence directed at military members and what could only be described as a threat. The text describes a guest speaker as coming from “an alt-right organization.” Turning Point Action, while a relatively new organization, has significantly impacted conservative grassroots engagement, particularly with young voters. Participation in this organization isn’t a crime, provided the servicemembers aren’t in uniform or use their position and rank to promote the organization. And yet, going to this event on November 17th, seemingly regardless of what capacity, could’ve cost Minot airmen their careers? The public affairs machine at Minot AFB did send out a clean-up message and updated the message to communicate there were no issues with military members participating in their personal capacity – in line with their First Amendment rights. Base leadership is so inept that they allowed for an environment where such an egregious public mistake could occur. Congressman Matt Gaetz shot out his own threat after the news of this text message broke. Senator Tommy Tuberville received vicious criticisms from his party for holding up military nominations and promotions of the DOD’s policy to reimburse servicemembers for travel to abortion-friendly states. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene managed to get the House to approve lowering Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s pay from $235,600 to $1. The founder and CEO of Turning Point Action, Charlie Kirk, wrote on X: “The DOD has declared WAR on conservatives. Congress should immediately investigate this absurd, unhinged threat.” Earlier this year six leaders were fired at the snowy bomber base, including two Commanders. The reason provided by the Air Force was the typical vague “loss of confidence.” This year, the National Independent Panel on Military Service and Readiness found that 68% of servicemembers have witnessed moderate to significant politicization in the military. That same percentage said their experiences will determine whether they encourage their children to follow in their footsteps. As they say in the service, this latest example of the DOD targeting those within their ranks for not drinking the left-wing Kool-Aid is SNAFU.
Air Force Base Issues Warning: Exercising First Amendment Rights May Lead to Discharge
