Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
There is an interesting issue in the UK about an outspoken general officer commenting on political matters. As you read the article below you’ll see that the UK is no different than the US in response to outspoken flag and general officers.
Philip Hammond ‘tried to court-martial senior general’, new book claims
General Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander for Europe until 2014, said before standing down from the post the Government was taking “one hell of a risk” by cutting the regular army.
In his book ‘2017: The War with Russia’, published today, Sir Richard claims he was summoned by the head of the Army after his remarks in March 2014, who told him the Foreign Secretary wanted disciplinary action against him.
The comment that struck me as we continue the political struggles over the UCMJ was this:
He adds: “It’s the duty of senior soldiers engaged with politicians not to think like politicians, not to make life easier for politicians, but to be prepared to lay out the military consequences of political decisions, and I sense that is something that has got blurred in recent years.”