The young Sergeant was clearly out of line. The regulations are most basic and taught at entry level in the military in hopes of guaranteeing good order and discipline. He turned his uniform into a costume and disgraced himself. I suppose he did this in an attempt to provide a "proof source" to legitimize his argument, whatever it was he was trying to get across. His service is probably the only achievment he thought provided him credibility.

I am sad for him on so many levels.

As a retired Army officer myself, I am very disturbed by the sergeant's behavior and his misuse of the uniform by appearing at the Yearly Kos in Class A's.  I trust that he will be disciplined and I will be watching the news to see that he is.  If I have to swear the charge sheet myself, I will.
On the other hand, we had precisely the opposite situation less than three months ago when Marine Cpl Adam Kokesh faced charges for marching in an anti-war rally in Washington while in uniform.  The conservative blogs screamed for his scalp for politizing the uniform while the liberal blogs, Daily Kos included, raised holy Hell about the suppression of free speech and how the "Prosecution of Marine protester designed to chill Iraq War criticism."
Now we have Captain Renault (oops, I meant Captain Soltz) who is 'shocked, yes shocked' that a military member would violate the UCMJ by appearing at a political event in uniform.
I think that there is more than just a little bit of hypocrisy on both sides of this dispute.  A pox on anyone who would disgrace their uniform and the traditions of our military by wearing a uniform at a political event.  And an even bigger pox on anyone who would defend them for doing it.

military when he participated in the protest downtown.  He wore much, but not all, of his old (diggies) uniform for the demonstration, which was a mock patrol through the streets of Washington.  He was sanctioned, not as an active duty marine, but as a civilian who was required to be in the Individual Ready Reserve and COULD be called back into service.  There's no guarantee that he would be called back into service. Even the VFW came out in favor of the marine and denounced the military's decision to sanction him with a general discharge and invalidation of most of his military benefits.  When does a civilian who has completed his service regain his First Amendment rights? 

Let's see if the Army goes after this young man at YKos who is still active duty and deliberately wore his uniform to attend a political event and get into a political argument.  Will he be generally discharged and lose all his benefits?  It's an interesting question. 

Active duty, reserve, or IRR.  The principle question remains whether you support or condemn military peronnel using their uniformed status to support or oppose a political position.  The progressive blogs cannot defend an anti-war critic in uniform while damning a Bush apologist because he is in uniform. 

The guys says he has moved to the reserves, finishing up his active duty in Iraq last year.  But I agree, it doesn't matter, he's using the uniform for theatric effect - bad.

He doesn't sound so much like a Bush apologist as he does an embarrassing nut case. He seems to think it his job to bring enlightenment to the Kos folks.  And his despair for the pending Iraqi civil war is sad.  I expect much more guilt and resentment amongst the uniformed services as that outcome becomes more real - a lasting legacy of a wrongful war.

There's a big difference between breaking military law (the YearlyKos soldier) and not breaking it (the not-a-soldier-anymore situation).  Also, there's a big difference between the military itself going after its former soldiers/now citizens and Soltz trying to keep this current soldier from getting in trouble with the military.  It's not like Soltz can do what the government can -- sanction the soldier or otherwise prevent him from doing any other political activities.

You can try and kick up dust all you want to mask the clear distinctions, but it's not working.

Why aren't they reporting instead on our U.S. Military and the takeover by "Christian Evangelicals"
http://www.truthout....

I respectfully suggest that you start your own diary on the subject of Christian Evangelism in the military.