Will the Navy Even Care?
It’s often said that when you become a member of the Armed Forces you leave the ability to exercise some of your rights in the way you did as a civilian behind. That message doesn’t seem to have been passed along to all members of the Armed Forces. Case in point, US Navy Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Sarah J. Dudrey.
On Sunday, a largish number of people peacefully assembled along a highway in Ventura County, CA, to protest the asinine policy of wearing facemasks. They were peaceful in the dictionary definition of the word, not the CNN-coverage-of-Portland-riots definition.
Then this happened:
A car comes to a halt in the road, blocking the right-most lane. A rather porcine looking individual piles out and begins heaping epithets on the demonstrators. The individual is wearing a Navy uniform and had been identified as US Navy Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Sarah J. Dudrey.
Via Navy Times:
Dudrey is assigned to Naval Base Ventura County, about 15 miles from the site of the confrontation.
Her command became aware of the video Sunday and started looking into it on Monday, according to spokeswoman Melinda Larson.
“The Navy is a proponent of free speech and active-duty members are free to participate in protests during their off-duty time,” Larson said in an email. “However, Navy members are not authorized to wear military uniforms while engaging in protests and voicing personal opinions.”
Dudrey could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and Larson said she had been unable to contact the petty officer on behalf of Navy Times.
This should not be acceptable. And it didn’t used to be. In 2012, the Marines discharged Sergeant Gary Stein for saying “screw Obama” [exact words] in a Facebook post. Since then, the Navy has become much more woke and institutionally opposed to President Trump. For instance, for a Rear Admiral to try to override an order from the President, the institutional rot must run deep (READ Trump Wins This One. Chief Eddie Gallagher Will Keep His Seal Trident but Mutineers Are Still at Large). It seems that the basics of discipline, keeping watch, and ship-handling have been sacrificed to ‘whiteness’ seminars and general subservience to political correctness.
What are the odds that nothing happens? Dudrey appears to be female, one is never 100% in today’s Navy. The protesters weren’t wearing facemasks. She was probably so full of righteous indignation over their lack of respect for the health and lives of others that she felt she was saving lives by trying to break up the demonstration. The “f** Trump?” Merely an excited utterance, one that it totally justifiable in light of his notorious resistance to wearing life-saving protective gear. If anything happens here it will be a decoration and a promotion. If justice is served and she is discharged, there is a great job waiting for her as MSNBC’s military affairs correspondence.