Kerry was demonized for just this in '04

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/world/16560485.htm

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Some active troops may attend protest

Sat, Jan.27, 2007

By LARRY MARGASAK
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A small number of active military troops will take part in today's rally in Washington against the Iraq war, co-founders of an active-duty protest group say.

One of the founders of Appeal for Redress, Navy Petty Officer Jonathan Hutto, said he planned to speak at the protest on the National Mall. Hutto is a sailor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, currently at Norfolk, Va.

United for Peace and Justice, an anti-war coalition of 1,400 organizations, said the protest could draw tens of thousands of demonstrators in all.

Hutto and Liam Madden, a Marine sergeant who received his discharge Jan. 20, founded Appeal for Redress, an organization of 1,200 active-duty personnel and veterans who favor a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

Hutto said 60 percent of the members have been in Iraq operations.

He estimated that more than a dozen people on active duty would attend the rally.

Cynthia O. Smith, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said members of the armed forces can speak out, subject to several restrictions.

They must "not do so in uniform, and must make clear that they do not speak on behalf of their military unit, service or the Department of Defense, unless they are authorized to do so," she said.

Hutto said members of the military have to "make a distinction between following orders and having misgivings about those orders. I show up every day. I'm a hard worker. I was just promoted."

"I'm not an insubordinate sailor, but I am a sailor who is challenging tradition, challenging the culture," he said.