There are specific rules military members must follow that your typical American citizen generally doesn’t have to concern themselves with. Servicemembers aren’t allowed to publicly speak out against the government in their service capacity or participate in political events while in uniform; they even must exercise caution in the sun as receiving a severe sunburn could be considered damaging government equipment.

It’s true; I skirted the line on that last one after taking a trip to Belize after one of my deployments to Afghanistan. However, servicemembers still have all the same rights as your typical American.

It wouldn’t make much sense to force Americans to lay down their lives for their country, for their Constitution, only to be told the Constitution doesn’t apply to them. And yet, that appears to be what happened at Minot Air Force Base.

"Participation with groups such as Turning Point Action could jeopardize their continued service in the US military."

The Biden DoD has declared war on its political enemies.

I am demanding answers from the Air Force about this partisan weaponization of our military!!…

— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) November 21, 2023

A threat

On November 17th, an event in North Dakota near Minot Air Force Base called “Dakota Patriot Day” was planned. The event was going to include a guest speaker from Turning Point Action, a conservative student group.

Leading up to the event, a text message was sent out to base personnel warning servicemembers of possible violence directed at military members and what could only be described as a threat.

The text said:

“Leaders, please execute caution if downtown this weekend.”

The text explains the knowledge of the event happening and describes the guest speaker as coming from “an alt-right organization.” This next part contains the not-so-subtle threat:

“…participation with groups such as Turning Point Action could jeopardize their continued service in the U.S. military.”

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Turning Point Action, while a relatively new organization, has significantly impacted conservative grassroots engagement, particularly with young voters.

According to their website, their mission is to:

“…embolden the conservative base through grassroots activism and provide voters with the necessary resources to elect true conservative leaders.”

Participation in this organization isn’t a crime, provided the servicemembers aren’t in uniform or use their position and rank to promote the organization. And yet, going to this event on November 17th, seemingly regardless of what capacity, could’ve cost Minot airmen their careers?

Air Force base in North Dakota warns airmen not to attend rally featuring pro-Trump Tyler Bower or risk 'jeopardizing' military career.

Our men & women of the Armed Forces fight for our freedoms only to be threatened/ denied by leftist leadership.

This command should start…

— Cory Mills (@CoryMillsFL) November 21, 2023

Whoopsie doodle

It didn’t take long for the public affairs machine at Minot AFB to churn out a clean-up message. A base spokesperson said:

“This message was based on incorrect data and sent outside of official base messaging platforms.”

They went on to state:

“Once the error was identified, base security officials corrected the message traffic to categorize the event as a local political fundraiser, with no security concerns. Further, the updated message communicated there were no issues with military members participating in their personal capacity – in line with their First Amendment rights.”

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That’s quite the public affairs misstep. Could someone inaccurately label the event as dangerous, and could it be that someone sent out a hasty message to base personnel that didn’t receive the full approval of base leadership and the public affairs office?

Sure, stranger things have happened. But what is the better scenario?

1. Base leadership honestly did consider the event dangerous and did believe servicemembers should be punished for participating in their civilian capacity in a political event.
2. Base leadership is so inept that they allowed for an environment where such an egregious public mistake could occur.

BEWARE: US military servicemembers beware.

There is an alt-right, pro-Trump terrorist organization called Turning Point USA @TPUSA that is holding a rally in North Dakota.

Senior leaders advise you to stay home, get your safe and effective Covid boosters, attend a…

— Matt Lohmeier