I avoided opening this thread because the title seemed like it would lead no where productive. I was wrong.

Ken... Thanks for the always insightful and well cited lesson in Military 101 for dummies. I want to be clear, that is said with the utmost sincerity. We too often get too fond of hearing/reading our own words. I shall now prove my point

CAVGUY... Great example of the GS employee who thinks their cubicle is campaign central, and that their non-verbal message is welcome and needed to educate the ill-informed masses. Unfortunately, GS and (to a lesser extent) contractor employees are the most poorly supervised elements of the Army team. As further example, we both know that there is recently publicized guidance regarding this type of "political activity" here at FTLKS. I think the supervisor needs a call.

WM... Can you imagine trying to enforce UCMJ action on the collective group of retired officers... Wow what fun!! It will never happen, but we can all envision the food fight. Just the thought of seeing the type of outcry that would accompany trying to shut down political activity would be amazing... ACLU and GEN McPeak on the same team... This is a great concept for a screen play. On a more practical note, it is pretty tough to call down the fire on a community of folks if in the recent past DoD used the same group to carry the STRATCOM water in the media.

UBOAT... I understand your frustration and perspective. Clearly there is an intuitive logic that says, "if you want an expert opinion, ask an expert." That works well until you ask that same expert to include the domestic political ramifications associated with the military actions under consideration. Then things are in danger of coming off the rails. I agree we should all participate in the political process as a citizen, and we should exercise those rights to the fullest extent consistent with our interests. None of that activity is curtailed with the exception of political activity in the work place and perhaps political advertising in Gov't Housing areas. However, for the same reasons that I think our gov't gets carried away by comparing every penny ante dictator to Hitler, I also think you carry your analogy too far when you compare the dangers of an apolitical US military to the 1930's Wehrmacht. The biggest difference we have a well established process checks and balances and method for managing the peaceful transference of power every 4 years. Not sure you could say the same for Germany in the time of the Fuhrer.

Schmedlap... I disagree regarding whether a person's personal experience in the GWOT ought to be brought to bear in their own political campaign. I don't even know how it would be possible for the candidate to not reference his/her previous experience (for most at least last 8 years) in forming their opinion wrt a compeling campaign issue. I'm not saying you must/should agree with same opinion based on their "personal experience" (we are all victim of our experiences), but to call the candidate unprofessional is a step too far. That's OK, we are just exercising our freedom of speech and right to agree to disagree.

Finally 120mm... My first thought was the same as yours. Was this open letter/directive really needed? For the majority, no! However, for that pesky minority who seem to always consume a disportionate amount of a leader's time, the answer seems to be yes. Not to mention as Ken noted, the differences between dirt CTC and dirt D.C. worlds are distinct and to a large extent nausea inducing.

Again, many thanks to all for one of the more plesant surprises this week.

Live well and row