Marines and sailors receive more training on political do’s and don’ts

The Marine Corps and Navy have ordered that all Marines, sailors and civilian federal employees undergo training on prohibited political activities this summer, in the run-up to the presidential election.

In a message dated August 12, Lt. Gen. Gregg Olson, director of staff of the Marine Corps, ordered commanders to train their units in the rules of political engagement by September 15.

Navy Minister Carlos Del Toro set the same deadline in a message dated July 17.

The orders come after the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of the Inspector General reported in May that the Pentagon had failed to adequately brief and guide its troops on partisan political activities ahead of the 2024 election campaign.

The inspector general recommended that the service secretaries and the chief of the National Guard Bureau issue memos outlining what troops are not allowed to do during a presidential election.

As of Tuesday, the Army and Air Force had implemented that recommendation, meaning they agreed with it but had not completed it, said Mollie Halpern, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of the Inspector General. The National Guard had sent the memo, and the issue had not been resolved with the Navy. It was still unclear Wednesday whether the Navy's message to commanders in July would implement the recommendation.

The inspector general's report this spring warned that a lack of guidance could make soldiers prone to violating rules they are unaware of.

“Failure to ensure compliance with and knowledge of permitted and prohibited political activities may result in military personnel inadvertently violating (the guidelines) and the Department of Defense, a nonpartisan institution, presenting a partisan stance to the public,” the IG report said.

A Pentagon policy adopted in 2008 encourages service members to vote, serve as poll workers and sign political petitions as private citizens, rather than as representatives of the military. Soldiers should not participate in these activities while wearing their military uniforms, the rules say.

The same directive also contains the list of prohibited activities or “does not”.

Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to: collecting donations for political candidates, participating in letter-writing campaigns, soliciting votes for a political party or candidate, attending political events as an official military representative, and displaying large political signs, banners or posters on their personal vehicles.

The complex policy also broadly states that “any activity that could reasonably be viewed as directly or indirectly linking the Department of Defense with partisan political activities should be avoided.”

In his message, Olson said Marines and sailors should ask the Legal Department before engaging in any political activities they have questions about.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks sent a memo to senior Pentagon leaders and heads of Defense Department foreign operations on February 15, reminding them to remain apolitical in their official duties. Attached was a “quick guide” on what service members could and could not do under Defense Department rules.

“To maintain the hard-earned trust of the American people, we must avoid any actions that could indicate an endorsement of a political party, political candidate, or campaign by any element of the Department,” Hicks wrote.

The Inspector General concluded that the memo was not comprehensive enough and did not reach all soldiers.

The Air Force sent guidelines to Space Force airmen and guards in April outlining what political activities they can engage in both in uniform and in their private capacities.

“As individuals, we are not required to be politically neutral, but the Air Force and Space Force are,” the policy states. “These rules help ensure that the Department of Defense does not influence our nation's electoral process or appear to be partisan.”

In its May report, the Office of the Inspector General recommended that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness update the 2008 Political Activities Policy to require all branches of the military to train troops each year in which a presidential election is held.

As of Tuesday, the Defense Department had approved the change but had not yet changed the policy, Halpern said.

Ashish S. Vazirani, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said the Pentagon will implement the training requirements by December 2027, just before the next presidential election year.

This story was created in collaboration with Military veterans in journalism. Please send tips to [email protected].