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bureaucrat
an official of a bureaucracy.
an official who works by fixed routine without exercising intelligent judgment.
military officer
Individual who has sworn allegiance to the military and the military hierarchy that is representative of the legal and political arm of the electorate, answering to the commander and chief of the armed forces.
The commander and chief of the armed forces is the President of the United States. All members of the armed forces are subordinates to the President. That is why Generals salute the President.
I find it interesting that the majority of the mainstream media has failed to discuss the matter as it relates to Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, the transferred officer who once held a position within the White House National Security Council. The NSC is a bloated and highly political group who's primary mission is to process intelligence information in a myriad of ways in order to create and organize end product reports for the President and his staff to use in policy and decision making. The work is highly important and requires precision and dedication to do it right.
The problem with "Lt Colonel" Vindman is that he not only failed to faithfully serve his commander, he attempted to undermine his command on a policy issue and not a legal issue. Of course the majority of people who read this blog probably do not understand that the military justice system has nothing to do with the civilian justice and that, unlike the civil law, military law has much to do with lawful orders and the legal obligation to follow orders. Constitutional rights are deferred in many regards.
The military has a complete branch of service which operates under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The JAG or Judge Advocate General is that branch and provides legal counsel and prosecution. Any member of the services can enjoin these services to register complaints, seek counsel in regards to charges, etc. The commanding officer of a unit, Company, Battalion, Brigade, for example has the authority to administer punishment for many offenses as well as a Court Martial proceeding can be brought against a service member for higher offenses.
In the case of LTC Vindman, his route to making his concerns known was plotted through a political civilian venue instead of the use of his Chain of Command or JAG. As the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" so well states:
"His is not to reason why, his is to do or die"
Such is the nature of a dedicated soldier. Unfortunately, he chose a civilian venue for his own policy (political) views and therefore acted in insubordination in an effort to undermine his commanding officer. He is not a civilian and therefore swore an oath relinquishing his legal rights under civilian law and became subject to the UCMJ. I would think he is already seeking counsel with JAG. If not he is the fool he appears to be.
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