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45 A.F. L. Rev. 303 (1998)
Free Speech in the Military Community: Striking a Balance Between Personal Rights and Military Necessity

handle is hein.journals/airfor45 and id is 309 raw text is: Free Speech in the Military Community: Striking a Balance Between Personal Rights and Military Necessity CAPTAIN JoHN A. CARR, USAF* The United States government should not engage in foreign wars for the purpose of protecting access to crude oil, and if soldiers are asked to participate in such a war they should refuse to fight. Women should never be permitted in a combat zone, but maybe homosexual men should not be discharged. President Clinton's handling of Bosnia proves that he is incompetent to lead the military; he's a draft-dodger anyway. Someone should tell Congress that it ought to give airmen a pay raise instead of wasting money on-base beautification projects.1 If a civilian read aloud the preceding statement in Lafayette Park, the government would almost undoubtedly be without the authority to sanction him. But what if the speaker was a civilian shouting outside the gates of Andrews Air Force Base? The Chief-of-Staff of the Air Force addressing a banquet hall full of military personnel? An airman speaking to fellow airmen in his dormitory? A lieutenant in a letter to the editor of the Air Force Times? Does the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) prohibit these statements or does the military member have a First Amendment free speech right? When should a commander be advised to initiate actions against a member and what type of sanction should be imposed? The First Amendment's freedom of speech clause2 has long posed unique challenges to the military community. Active duty military members * Captain Carr (B.S., United States Air Force Academy, J.D., Harvard Law School, M.P.P., John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University) is an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. The author would like to thank Professor Fred Schauer, Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment, John F. Kennedy School of Government, for the insightful comments and helpful suggestions he conveyed during the supervision of this article. The author would also like to thank Andre Barry, Jamison Colburn, Amy Kroe, Douglas Kysar, and Ken Ludwig for reviewing earlier drafts of this article. This statement is a compilation of comments made by military personnel either in the cases discussed within this article or overheard by the author during the last eight years. It is provided to facilitate the following discussion and in no way represents the views or opinions of the author. 2 The First Amendment provides that Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech... U.S. CONST. amend I. Free Speech Challenges - 303

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