How do you feel about veterans or Soldiers criticizing our President?

<p>SPC Buck,</p><p><br></p><p>When I served back in the 80's and early 90's we were entitled to our political views, and like what many senior officers and NCO's have stated, as long as we didn't advocate violence or the remarks were disrespectful in nature, and we didn't participate in political events in uniform or while on duty, we were entitled to those.&nbsp; However this admin. has what I concider declared war on the military.&nbsp; Senior NCO's and Officers being purged from the military for failure to tow the company rope, Christian values and the practice of those religious beliefs being attacked on military installations, briefing members of the military that Christians, conservative political groups are extremists.&nbsp; If this isn't bad enough lets attack the pay raises of active duty military, cut education benefits, cut hazardous duty pay, close commissaries, ban smoking on all installations.&nbsp; Then to put the icing on the cake, lets go after the benefits we promised out vets. and retirees, cutting Tri-care coverage, increasing the cost of Tri-Care to family members, cutting their promised retirement pensions, a VA that couldn't fix a dog, let alone provide adequate care to a disabled vet, homeless rate of U.S. vets. returning from Iraq/Afghanistan through the roof.&nbsp; These are facts that can't be argued, and what it stinks of is his Salalinski Rules for Radicals, that if you want to fundamentally transform something you squeeze it from the top, squeeze it from the bottom until it implodes like a pimple.&nbsp; So then one has to ask, why is he doing this to the military?&nbsp; Is it true that he is a member of the Muslem Brotherhood as indicated by the conservative folks in Egypt (we know he has had meetings with this group at the White House on several occasions and they refuse to release the nature of those meetings under FOIA, why?)&nbsp; Is he doing this to turn the military on the American people? No body knows, what I do know he is abusing the Constitution and people including senior military officers are afraid to arrest him or impeach him.&nbsp; Could it be that NSA has much dirt on our Supreme Court Justices, Senators, Representatives, and Senior Military Officers.&nbsp; This surly isn't my grandfathers America sir!!!!</p>

Personally, I don't think it is the wisest decision for people that wear a military uniform to bash the President, regardless of who is in office. He is our Commander in Chief and no matter what, you have to respect the rank. What you think of the person holding the position is your personal opinion up until the moment you PUBLICLY blast that person. In the Army I have seen Soldiers be punished because they blasted or called out of name their 1SG or Commander or made threatening posts about them on social media. Why not the same penalty for disrespecting the Commander in Chief?? It is about respect at the end of the day, if you disagree with the decisions made by whoever is in office, being a service member, you shouldn't publicly disagree.

Everybody has the right to say whatever they want, but not in uniform

Good topic SPC Buck, this has been going on for years and now in my opinion, it is more relevant with social media playing a huge factor. I think Soldiers need to understand their position as a Soldier and a civilian.&nbsp;Doing the right thing as a professional Soldier sets the example to our country and displays the Army Values; that is the core to professional military&nbsp;bearing.

I swore an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, <br>foreign and domestic" and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same." The President of the United States.&nbsp; I did my time in the Army for 26 years and never give up that oath and the love for my country,&nbsp; But I do remember that I do not have to follow orders that stand in violation of the Constitution for which I have swore an oath to defend and are unlawful.

<p>Regulations are clear, you don't make disparaging comments about our elected officials especially the President of the United States. I know a flag officer that found that out after he shot his mouth off in Rolling Stone.</p><p>&nbsp;I agree with the regulations and strongly disagree with any member of the military who makes any public comment negative about the President. </p><p><br></p><p>&nbsp;You can disagree with policy and write to your congressmen to express your opinions,</p><p><br></p><p>&nbsp;You can disagree with&nbsp;gun control, pay and benefits, or just about anything else if you are respectful about it. You can vote against them in the next election if you wish.</p><p><br></p><p>&nbsp;But remember you are a member of the armed forces and your uniform, rank and status can and will&nbsp;make your comments more than what you meant them to be. Often groups with no affiliation to you will use your comments as proof of dissent and try to represent you or your beliefs as something their not.</p>

<p>SPC Buck,</p><p>I am not too fond of the man,I do not hate him, but I am against his politics,he has done a lot to hurt the country. I have a little picture I put up, it says "I am a veteran, my oath of enlistment never expired." I promised to uphold,protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Now I was in the military in 1980, things were a lot different back then, more freedom and love for life. After that all things seemed to go downhill. There seemed to be a lot of controls and regulations being placed on our rights and such.The current president has not proved he is a US citizen, he has caused major financial debt on this country, he is attacking the Constitution, the 1st, 2nd and 4th amendments and has given aid to our enemies in both money and weapons, let 4 people die in Benghazi Libya. now for your question Paul, by virtue of a veteran not being in the military, he/she is not bound by the UCMJ and thus has the right of speech, Active Duty doesn't have full right of speech and cannot express a derogatory complaint, but has right to express a complaint tactfully and in a controlled manner.But you never fully attack the president verbally (derogatory). If anyone else has a thought,I believe I explained it the best&nbsp;I could. Thank you Paul.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

I heard this line one time: &nbsp;"You salute the rank, and not the man". &nbsp;I think it applies perfectly to the POTUS, regardless of conservative/liberal stance. &nbsp;I wasn't a fan at all of GWB but I did keep my mouth shut. &nbsp;Beyond the law of not denigrating the POTUS, the man is our boss. &nbsp;Last time I checked, even in the civilian world, bad mouthing your boss could lead to your termination. &nbsp;Same thing applies here.<br><br>In other words: &nbsp;Like him/her or not, keep your mouth shut. &nbsp;

As a veteran you should be able to practice being an American citizen. As a service member keep your damn options to yourself. You shouldn’t be speaking on your Command in Chief. For those saying it’s my right as an American welcome to reality once you signed that contract many of them rights go away. If you don’t like it well ETS/Retire/GTFO

Servicemembers clearly need to be aware of the regulations surrounding the issue.
Veterans are civilians, they can do whatever they want, they're irrelevant.