Reservist violated military politicking rules

[TPSprayduster]

How in the sam blazes did the Paul campaign not know that by having military members in uniform campaigning for him violates UCMJ? Is this another case of the military being used for poltical gain?

See the link below.

http://www.stripes.com/news/soldier-on-stage-with-ron-paul-could-face-punishment-for-politicking-1.165130

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

How in the sam blazes did the Paul campaign not know that by having military members in uniform campaigning for him violates UCMJ? Is this another case of the military being used for poltical gain?

See the link below.

http://www.stripes.com/news/soldier-on-stage-with-ron-paul-could-face-punishment-for-politicking-1.165130

1st you have to understand that poor ol' mr. paul is pretty much out of touch with many realities of our present day society.

2ndly he's not surrounded by too many geniuses who could've spared him this shameful incident jeapordising one of America's finest.

3rdly, our Troop shouldn'tve gotten caught up in the throes of it and been dragged along - joe the plumber he ain't - and should've had the prescence of mind to velcro off his identifiers and just be' the guy in the hunting outfit'.... This whole event is unfortunate.

[TPSprayduster]

it's a shame this poor fellow now has the face the wrath of his command. yes when you are out of touch and with an inexperienced staff this could have been avoided. I just hope the command lets this go with just a slap on the wrist and next time the solider will learn from this. I am surprised Scrum or Anti isn't all over this conducting damage control.

[TPSprayduster]

Well i guess those who support Mr Paul will just view and not make any excuses for this. Now you see why he finished 3rd.

[TPSprayduster]

I cannot believe no one else wanted to comment on this. I guess Stars and Stripes are main stream media as well.

[Weapon X]

Here is a little more info of the 10 yr CPL

Army Corporal Jesse Thorsen electrified Ron Paul supporters last night, showing up to the Iowa caucuses in full fatigues, and showing off to a CNN reporter a pretty badass 9/11-memorial neck tattoo. Later that night, Paul invited Thorsen up to the stage during his third-place celebration speech, saying, "He's been serving in the military ten years and he's been overseas a lot, and a lot of it was in Iraq and Afghanistan." Thorsen took the stage, complimented Paul's foreign policy positions, and then lost himself in the moment. "I'm flabbergasted right now. This is an incredible moment for me. It's like meeting a rock star," Thorsen said.

The Huffington Post reported this morning that a soldier politicking in uniform is a violation of military protocol. Online chat boards lit up with heated debates about patriotism, civilian control of the military, and all the tail Corporal Thorsen will get now that his name's attached to "the pheromone" that is Ron Paul.

But there were some looming questions as well. How is a ten-year veteran with two tours under his belt still only a corporal? According to the Army's own promotion timetable any service member not promoted past the rank of corporal after eight years is out of the army. Thorsen has actively served for a little over six years. Military records show Thorsen has served two stints of active duty, first from July 2001 to March 2005, and then from March 2009 to present. So what was he up to during the four years in between?

Florida's Lee County court records show Thorsen was arrested in December 2004 for burglary, grand theft of a firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 30 months probation and 120 hours of community service. He broke his probation twice and was held in custody both times. But according to his lawyer, Jean-Paul Galasso, the fact that he received probation for serious-sounding felony charges suggests a less severe set of events. "Generally if someone's not going to prison for burglary of a dwelling there's real extenuating circumstances, like it's probably just a trespass or whatever." The court granted an early termination of his probation in March 2007 because, according to Galasso, Thorsen promised to reenlist. "That's what he had said to the judge, yes," Galasso says.

Thorsen kept his word, reenlisting two years later. In October 2011, he transferred from Arkansas to Army Reserve duty in Des Moines. Three months later, expecting to shortly ship out for a tour in Afghanistan, he met his presidential candidate on national television, and told us all to stop "nitpicking wars with other countries."

UPDATE: 6:20 p.m.

When GQ tried to reach Thorsen for a comment, an Army public affairs officer said, "His unit is discussing things with him and have asked him not to comment further on the event."

An hour later we received an official statement from the Army Reserve that says, "Cpl. Jesse Thorsen, an Army Reserve Soldier, stands alone in his opinions regarding his political affiliation and beliefs, and his statements and beliefs in no way reflect that of the Army Reserve."

The statement did confirm the following details about Thorsen:

- Cpl. Jesse D. Thorsen is, as stated in his interviews, 28 years of age.

- He is with a Engineer Company out of Des Moines, IA, and his unit falls

under the 416th Theater Engineer Command out of Darien, IL.

- His official MOS is 12N - Heavy Construction Worker, and is filling a

Combat Engineer slot (12B), but is not currently qualified for the Military Occupational Specialty.

- Cpl. Thorsen joined the military (Florida National Guard) on July 31, 2001, and joined the Army Reserve in 2009.

- He has deployed once in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2009.

- He was not in an active status during his participation in the Iowa caucus yesterday.

It looks like there are two new items here. Paul introduced Thorsen as a multi-tour veteran, but the Army says he only did one tour in Afghanistan. The statement also says that Thorsen "was not in an active status during his participation in the Iowa caucus." That was certainly not how Paul characterized him, and service records obtained today show him serving in the Army Reserve in Des Moines, Iowa, "October 2011 to present."

— Rob Fischer

Source

[TPSprayduster]

Oh no lack of vetting. A real stinker a brewing.

[Luigi1]

If the Reservists are politicking for Obama, they will be excused.

If they are politicking for the GOP, then they will be charged as racists as well as breaking politicking regs.

[TPSprayduster]

If the Reservists are politicking for Obama, they will be excused.

If they are politicking for the GOP, then they will be charged as racists as well as breaking politicking regs.

No i don't think so. How many members in the Armed forces have you see politicking for the President? Just another cop out and nothing to explain this situation or why this happen. Stay on topic luigi1