Soldiers & Speech

With a hat tip to Small Wars Journal Blog a link to Parameters from the Army War College and an interesting look at When Soldiers Speak Out:
A Survey of Provisions
Limiting Freedom of Speech
in the Military by John Loran Kiel, Jr.:

As President Bush and the Congress continue jousting over the decision to withdraw US forces from Iraq, some service members will continue to publicly voice their disdain for the President and opposition to the war. In light of such events, commanders need to have a better understanding of the free speech restrictions imposed upon service members by the UCMJ. Senior leaders rarely courts-martial service members for voicing their political views in public for any number of reasons. Perhaps the most important reason is that commanders understand that their soldiers enjoy, for the most part, the same free speech rights that civilians are afforded under the Constitution.