Its Not Sedition Its American

Easy to overlook in the flood of news about Venezuela was the announcement by Secretary of Defense (yes, Defense) Hegseth that he had issued a Letter of Censure to retired Navy captain and Senator Mark Kelly and referred him for further possible administrative action to reduce his retired rank and pay. These actions are taken, according to Secretary Hegseth, because of “seditious“ statements, including a video appearance with other military veteran lawmakers that reminded service members of their duty to refuse to obey illegal or unconstitutional orders. Like most retirees, Senator Kelly is still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and indeed can be recalled to active duty.

The admonition to refuse to obey illegal orders is one that members of the US military hear from the early days of their service, and, depending on how long they serve, hear periodically afterwards. It is foundational. Officer trainees at the service academies, ROTC, or officer candidate schools get a large dose of instruction on their obligations in this regard. Senator Kelly and his colleagues have a big megaphone, but their message should be a familiar one to everyone who serves or has served in uniform.

As a junior officer I was assigned to brief my troops annually on The Law of Land Warfare, including duty to refuse to obey illegal orders (typically new officers are assigned such tasks on their first assignment). In 1962, from my position way below the bottom of the totem pole, I would have delivered to100 or so soldiers the same message that Senator Kelly and his fellow veterans did. The fact that my unit was stationed at the former Nazi concentration camp at Dachau gave the message special meaning, but the substance was the same.

I retired from the Army at the same level that Senator Kelly retired from the Navy, albeit a couple (at least) of decades before. At least with respect to the requirements of ethical, legal, and constitutional duties I hold identical views. Those requirements apply to the rawest recruit as much as they do to a combat-experienced Green Beret. If, in the view of Secretary Hegseth, Senator Kelly’s words constitute sedition, then so do mine. And so, I am confident, do the unspoken words of countless other military retirees (not all, by any means – some veteran friends oppose, even vituperatively, my position on this matter.).

I am not even a faint blip on the Hegseth radar, but if I were to be charged with sedition and my retirement status put in question, that is a fight I would welcome. I know I would have a lot of company from veterans who remember their oaths, and unlike our Secretary of Defense, might even remember some of what the junior officer briefing on The Law of Land Warfare said.

Michael Eiland is a retired Army Green Beret officer. He is a member of The Steady State.

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