A lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who likes Confederate flags and statues, and doesn’t like Barack Obama, Democrats in general, Black Lives Matter, or Muslims has been found guilty of “conduct unbecoming,” Military.com reported on January 7, 2022 (read story here).
Not because of his partisan opinions, but rather LTC Michael Spillane, who is assigned to a unit is based in New York, used his military position to foist his view on a captive audience of soldiers.
He’s being kicked out of the service “he peddled racist opinions to his troops,” Military.com said. But the military also scrutinizes members’ social media conduct, and found this high-ranking officer with command responsibilities “peppered his social media accounts with a consistent flow of outlandish posts attacking public officials that his own lawyer described as racist, inflammatory and in poor taste.”
While Military.com only identified him as a “medical officer,” other online sources indicate he may be a physician assistant, not a doctor.
The review board that recommended his discharge “also pointed to a waterfall of offensive memes,” Military.com said, many of which were generalizations and stereotypes of groups in society, and representative members of those groups.
Details about Spillane’s social media antics reveal an individual who can’t type, can’t spell, and above all can’t think. Instead, he parrots rightwing falsehoods. For example, he claimed in his social media postings “that minorities get systemic advantages over white Americans, such as overabundant access to college scholarships through avenues like the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.” But that charity (details here) “grants mostly small scholarships to American citizens and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program recipients,” Military.com said.
And the idea that minorities are advantaged in America is absurd. Partisan hacks can believe anything they want to, and it doesn’t have to be true. As civilians. And apparently in the military, too, if they keep it to themselves. But they can’t proselytize their personal prejudices to the troops.
So long, ex-colonel Spillane. Don’t let the door hit your butt on your way out.
I think the army is going to far, That they are getting into areas that is none of the armys business. Conduct unbecoming has always been a highly subjective article in the UCMJ and has been misused in the past. If you can’t get an officer fairly well do it by crook using this article and frankly you make damn near any officer look unbecoming if you are a good military prosecutor. There is an appeal process. There is also the practical problem that at the start of a war or action the military often is short doctors and medical staff, usually meaning getting bodies with the medical expertise is often of more importance than ummm conduct unbecoming with many army doctors more than willing to tell the army where to stick it. Usually the troops are more important than some doctors personal speech, and once in the field doing meatball surgery most doctors will be much to busy to add much to their facebook page or any other personal web site. There is freedom of speech and the army is over the line and eventually the military appeals courts will tell the military this or the civilian Supreme Court will. To much nashing of teeth.
This wasn’t personal speech. He was in a command slot, and he was imposing his views on subordinates. He misused the Army’s authority structure to promote his racist and political views. That power doesn’t belong to him, he’s supposed to use it for Army purposes, not personal ones. Would your conclusion be the same if he was peddling Marxist or antifa views to the soldiers under his command?