“One said they’d just gotten an email from a higher-up who warned them “not to talk about any political stuff,”
... an overt admission that this is NOT about what is good for the country or the service men or women. It’s all about freaking POLITICS.
It always is. When I was in, Prez Carter was scheduled to visit our base once, and, no exaggeration, mind, pretty much everyone stated quite forcefully that they would not be attending the planned Official Greeting.
We were then all ORDERED to attend, no exceptions.
This is standard policy for anything that concerns the military. Reporters have the bad habit of calling or interviewing anyone in uniform they can find then claiming opinions are an official source. They will call bases or recruiters and speak to whoever answers the phone.
Soldiers are supposed to refer them to the Public Affairs office.