Is it against military regulations for a member of the armed services to publicly criticize the President?

Question

If so, what's the punishement

Answer 1

yes it is. 888. ART. 88. CONTEMPT TOWARD OFFICIALS
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. 889. ART. 89 DISRESPECT TOWARD SUPERIOR COMMISSIONED OFFICER
Any person subject to this chapter who behaves with disrespect toward his superior commissioned officer shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
you can view the ucmj articles here if you really want to get that deep into it.http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj2.htm#888.%20ART.%2088.%20CONTEMPT%20TOWARD%20OFFICIALS

Answer 2

Article 88 of the UCMJ

"Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct"


Also Article 134 can be used for Enlisted Violators

"Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, ll conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court."

Answer 3

You still can have your own opinions, but if there's a rally of some sort - political, etc that speaks bad about the president, then they are not allowed to participate, and if it's serious enough, they can go to court marshall and be dealt with by the Commanding Officer, and from there, they could get a deduction in rank/pay, brig (jail) time, or what ever the CO sentences them to. But that's the worst case scenario - if they are just voicing their opinions amongst peers, then sure, let them have their opinions, it's just like you complaining about your boss.

Answer 4

Ask Douglas MacArthur. They fired him over it even though he was one of our most successful military commanders. He constantly criticized the Truman administration's direction of the war and conduct of foreign policy.
I think it is correct as one person has pointed out that they pick and chose the lower ranks to punish.
It all goes back to the concept that the military answers to the civilian authority.

Answer 5

depends on where you are and how your attired. Off base and out of uniform is OK, the reverse is not.
As far as punishment, if you do it in uniform, you can be charged with "conduct unbecoming of an ________(officer, non-comissioned officer, etc). The punishment would most likely be a letter of reprimand or for more serious cases, an Article 15.

Answer 6

Jail time at Leavenworth, Article 15, loss in pay, loss in rank, dishonorable discharge. Take your pick, it could be worse. It could be all of them. We may hate him, but he is still our military leader. So you must watch what you say publicly. To a friend or family member you can rant and rave all you want but be careful whom you are talking to make sure it is never to your supervisor, they have no choice they would have to take action against you.

Answer 7

hodgie has the best explanation.

For those saying it depends on uniform...look at the explanation hodgie has posted and tell me where is says uniform is a factor.

It doesn't.

Quit making crap up. If you don't know the regulation, look it up, or don't say anything at all.

Answer 8

Not while in Uniform thats for sure. You can say whatever you want if your at home wiht your family being a civilian, but you will never see active duty uniformed men saying anyhting like that because its illegal.

Answer 9

I believe that it is against military regulations. I do not know what the punishment would be.

Would it be a crime of treason?

Answer 10

Tecnically, yes. This isn't such a big deal these days. Back in the old days, though, jail or even death was possible. These days it's just something we don't do, not so much an enforced law.