Freedom of Speech -- do you still have this right in the military?

We were told, in my day, that the constitution did not apply to the military. That, of course, was before the day of social media. We would complain to each other in person but it usually didn't go further than that. Posting on social media about unit leadership would be the equivalent of doing a newspaper interview in my day. We just didn't do those things. The one thing that is never made clear to incoming service members (and this probably applies to all services) is the fact that we are no longer persons. We are military assets. To be used as someone else as deemed necessary. We were trained, sometimes at enormous expense, to do a specific job. To be ready to do that job at a moments notice. To do that job 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Recruiters should be made to make sure potential recruits understand and accept those facts. The military is there to protect others rights. Not to practice those rights until they are out of uniform(out of the service).

This will take a few minutes to read, but it is a very thorough discussion of just this question. It was written by a JAG lawyer during the Iraq surge. http://cape.army.mil/repository/materials/WhenSoldiersSpeakOut.pdf

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They are lawfully restricted in one's official capacity. Your link appears broken. What is your specific question?

Cpt M I am getting an invalid URL from your link

EXTREMELY LIMITED.

You still have your rights to free speech. But you also have to remember that you are in the military and you can not say or do anything that will bring discredit to the armed forces. For example, you can not go to a demonstration in uniform because you are now representing the military, however you can demonstrate in civilian clothing as long as you do not wear anything that can associate you with the military.

The only free speech is if you dont offend any one's feeling do not have a opinion that defers from them.

This is an easy one

I used to tell my Soldiers that they absolutely have freedom of speech, but they are not free from consequence.

No different from the civilian sector. If you post on facebook that your boss is a/an (expletive), and he/she finds out about it, you will be punished or fired. Why would this be different in the military?