As the Army celebrates its 250th birthday, officials say the military’s apolitical nature is at risk

As the US Army prepares for its 250th birthday celebration with a major parade of military hardware in Washington, DC, which just happens to coincide with President Donald Trump’s birthday, former officials are growing increasingly concerned about how the military is being pulled into the political arena, multiple former and current officials told CNN. The parade, which will feature several million pounds of military hardware including tanks, Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles, and culminate in a speech from Trump, comes at a tense moment. This week, roughly 4,000 National Guardsmen were mobilized in Los Angeles, along with a full battalion of US Marines in response to civil unrest. Thousands of National Guardsmen have also been mobilized in Texas. And on Tuesday, uniformed US soldiers were seen on-camera cheering the president as he delivered a political speech at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, reminiscent of those he delivered on the campaign trail – an event which serves as a microcosm of the concerns around a larger trend of the politicization of the military. Current and former military officials told CNN that the event at Fort Bragg is being viewed within some corners of the Army as a public relations fail, since the military has strict regulations regarding political activity and is typically hyper-sensitive to any perception it is taking a political stance. Multiple officials said the Army had little control over the event; once the president is involved, they said, the White House takes over. And a defense official with direct knowledge of the event emphasized it was not the Army’s intention for the troops to appear political. Sometimes, they said, the situation is out of their hands. “I would say I never want to see a political piece of paraphernalia on a military installation, period,” the official said, adding that it’s “not the military that’s trying to be political, it’s people trying to use the military – which tends to poll very positively – for political gain.” Current and former officials speaking to CNN had varied levels of concern regarding the trajectory the military is on in regard to being seen as political. Some, for example, maintained that Saturday’s parade was about celebrating the Army, while others acknowledged heartburn among leaders that while the Army may see it as celebrating the service, the public could associate the parade, which has been a goal of Trump’s since his first term, with a celebration of his presidency. One current defense official remarked that it’s not so much a matter of reminding soldiers what their “left and right limits” are with political activity, because “we don’t know what the left and right limits even are, anymore.” “The actions that were once rightfully criticized or rightfully labeled as partisan activity, or not appropriate, are now celebrated,” the official said. The official also pointed to multiple instances in the Biden administration and under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that they felt were political, emphasizing that the issue of politicizing the military has been building for years. Indeed, there have been a number of political events or social media posts over the last several years involving the military and service members that have drawn criticism. In 2022, President Joe Biden was criticized for having two Marines flank him during a speech in Philadelphia, in which he spoke about the threats to “equality and democracy” posed by former President Donald Trump. Various political hopefuls have released campaign imagery and videos that appear to violate DOD policy. In 2020, the Army Reserve said it would discipline the supervisor of two Army Reserve soldiers who appeared in uniform during a Democratic National Convention video. Trump’s address at Fort Bragg this week was far from the first time a political leader from any party has delivered a speech to or around US service members, but many officials who spoke to CNN were struck by the outwardly partisan behavior of many of the soldiers on-camera behind Trump. The Pentagon has strict regulations for political activity in uniform, stating that active-duty service members “will not engage in partisan political activities and all military personnel will avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DOD sponsorship, approval or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign or cause.” On Tuesday, the soldiers at Fort Bragg booed and cheered along with Trump’s remarks, booing the media, former President Joe Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Social media posts from the event on Tuesday viewed by CNN also showed photos of “Make America Great Again” hats and necklaces being sold by vendors, and in some photos, soldiers donned the gear while in uniform. The same official said the soldiers, many of them young and relatively inexperienced, were caught up in the moment – enjoying the day of celebration and excited to be so close to the commander in chief – and that there were people in the crowd trying to get the soldiers to cheer at certain moments of Trump’s speech. Col. Mary Ricks, spokeswoman for the 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, said in a statement that the event “was planned in cooperation with America 250, a nonpartisan organization created to support the U.S. Semi quincentennial Commission established by Congress in 2016.” “The Army remains committed to its core values and apolitical service to the nation,” Ricks said. Still, current and former officials voiced concern that the event could contribute to damaging public trust in the military as an institution, which is crucial to military leaders; it feeds into their ability to recruit new service members, and to get funding for various efforts and projects. “It’s a slippery slope when you use very aggressive rhetoric against a political opponent and use the backdrop of military personnel …. using them as a validation for your political agenda, that’s where people get upset,” a former senior Defense Department official said. Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg came just a couple of weeks after he delivered the commencement address at the US Military Academy at West Point, wearing a bright red MAGA hat amid the sea of grey and white West Point uniforms. One recently retired Army general officer told CNN that the West Point and Fort Bragg addresses show “a complete disregard for the centuries old civ-mil non-partisan interaction with the military.” The former senior DOD official told CNN that while Trump’s language at Fort Bragg was more aggressive against his political opponents than other presidents have done, political leaders have “always pushed their agendas in front of the troops.” “It always made us a little anxious,” the official said, “but they all do it.” “Should the Army put out something that says hey, we maintain order and discipline, and in according with regulation X, we refrain from blah blah blah? Yeah,” a defense official said. “We should. But we aren’t going to.”