According to the Washington Post:
A major military command in the Air Force and another in the Army recently issued stern admonitions that officers must refrain from criticizing civilian authorities during the political controversy over the counting and recounting of ballots cast for president.
Brig. Gen. Jack Rives, the top lawyer for the Air Force's Air Combat Command, dispatched a message to the 89,000 troops in his command at 17 major bases that "this is not the time to send e-mails or otherwise get involved in an improper or unprofessional manner with the continuing controversy over the presidential election."
The general said he acted Nov. 21 after reading news stories about comments from military officers upset by Democratic Party challenges to military absentee ballots cast in Florida.
A similar message was issued by Col. James Rosenblatt, the staff judge advocate for the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, which has about 67,000 soldiers and civilian employees at 15 major bases.
He noted "the swirling political process associated with the presidential elections."
The colonel warned that Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice forbids military officers from using "contemptuous words against the president, 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."
A violation of Article 88 may be punished by dismissal and one year's imprisonment.
Rosenblatt said that in the 28 years of his service in the Army, this was the first time he felt compelled to remind officers it is against military law to express contempt for political authorities.
He noted, however, that some military units have issued similar reminders twice in the past decade after armed forces personnel publicly criticized President Clinton.
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