I never considered myself an old-fashioned Navy wife, who showed up at command events with my signature chicken fricassee casserole, clutching my husband’s arm and my pearls. However, unlike many modern military spouses, I’ve never been one to express my political opinions publicly.
I haven’t put a political candidate’s election sign in my yard or campaign bumper sticker on my car. I don’t post, share or comment on political memes on social media. I’ve never attended a political rally or debate. And I haven’t yet contributed to any political campaigns.
One may assume that I’m a wishy-washy wimp who’s afraid to take a side, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. I have very strong political beliefs that I’ve been honing since I first voted in 1992. In the hotly-contested national election happening in a matter of days, I know exactly who I’m voting for, and why.
Don’t ask me, because I’ll never tell. Why? Not entirely sure, but I’d be lying if I said that being a Navy wife hasn’t affected my willingness to share my political preferences.
Back in the days when I was still trying to figure out how much to tip the baggers at the commissary, my husband said, “Whoever wins the election will end up being my boss, so I keep my political opinions to myself.”
He didn’t cite DoD 1344.10, a detailed directive prohibiting members of the U.S. Armed Forces (including military retirees) from participating in a long list of partisan political activities. Nor did he serve me with 10 U.S.C 888, Article 88, which states, “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 Homeland Security … shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
I didn’t need legal citations to understand that, if my husband took a public political stance, it could get him in big trouble. Even though these laws didn’t apply to me, my husband and I felt most comfortable adopting an unwritten policy that would protect his job: We don’t discuss politics outside the family.
But then, as our nation crept closer to the hotly-contested November election, the pressure to voice opinions built like the steam in a pressure cooker, leaving me waffling.
I began wondering, is our long-standing family policy antiquated, like the old etiquette manuals warning military wives not to be “a stone around his neck”? Is it silly to think that modern military spouses’ political activities can put their spouses at risk of being court-martialed? Are military spouses’ worth measured by the transparency of their political views?
Before I donned a campaign t-shirt and booked a bus to the next political rally, I decided to take a deeper dive into the legal implications for military families. Although DoD 1344.10 and Article 88 apply to military members only, spouses who are unit volunteers can’t engage in partisan political activities while volunteering or use their volunteer positions, email accounts, or social media platforms for partisan political purposes. Also, partisan political activities of military spouses who are federal employees are restricted under the Hatch Act.
Additionally, military spouses could get their service members into hot water if they use certain spouse-shared spaces to engage in political activities, such as soliciting votes or campaign contributions for a particular candidate on a shared social media account, posting political campaign signs bigger than bumper stickers on shared vehicles or outside of shared base houses, or sending email blasts disparaging the President from a shared email accounts.
Military members may take an oath that justifies curtailing their free speech, but military spouses make no such promises and may therefore not be silenced. Regardless, the unique nature of military marriage requires that spouses apply common sense when exercising their First Amendment rights.
Milspouses, feel free to shout your politics from the mountaintops, just do so while protecting your service member partners from unintended negative consequences. And for those spouses like me, there’s no shame in remaining silent about the the upcoming election, as long as you’re reserving your political expression for the voting booth.
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