Near the end of September, we reported the story of Spenser Rapone, an infantry officer in the U.S. Army and a graduate of West Point, who issued support for Colin Kaepernick with a message saying, “Communism will win.” Now we learn that Rapone is being booted out of the Army
Spenser Rapone is scheduled to speak during July’s Socialism 2018 conference. His bio on the conference site revealed his fate:
Spenser Rapone is a former Army Ranger and Infantry Officer recently separated from the military for speaking out against its imperialist violence. He enlisted as an infantryman out of high school in 2010, and deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. After returning from his combat tour, he applied and was accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY in 2012, graduating and receiving his commission in May 2016. Deciding he could no longer stomach the immorality of US imperialism, he spoke out against the reprehensible actions of the military in September 2017. He ultimately resigned his commission, and was separated from the Army in June 2018 with an Other Than Honorable discharge.
SOFREP, a news website for Special Ops Veterans also explained that Rapone’s military career is justifiably toasted:
Recently, Spenser Rapone re-tweeted a post on Twitter which announced that he would be speaking at a socialist event in July as he was being processed out of the Army this June with an other than honorable discharge. This was likely the harshest punishment the Army could give Rapone unless they decided to charge him with something like sedition. With an other than honorable discharge, Rapone will not be entitled to VA benefits, the GI Bill, and may have difficulties in finding employment.
Rapone described himself as someone who wanted to destroy the military from within. DAYS after the initial story broke almost nine months ago, Jonah Bennett reported at the Daily Caller:
“I’m currently an infantry officer at Ft. Drum, NY assigned to the same brigade that she was while enlisted,” Rapone wrote in a post. “Every single day I think of the contradictions of being a communist while in this organization, and her courage and tenacity gives me strength to continue the long march through the institutions.”
Per Bennet, the “long march” comment “refers to a strategy of institutional infiltration and subversion coined by student activist Rudi Dutschke but originally developed by Antonio Gramsci, a Marxist thinker whose thought developed in the wake of the failure of economic determinism to bring about a revolution.”
Once Spenser Rapone was outed in September West Point announced he was being investigated by his Army commanders and they would help:
What as Rapone’s motivation for wanting to destroy the army from within? “In a Reddit post regarding Manning, Rapone spelled out some of his motivations for remaining in the military and exactly what he wanted to accomplish while serving as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Those motivations included Manning’s decision to leak national security documents to WikiLeaks.”
Allow me to suggest that if Spencer Rapone is so enthralled with the traitor Chelsea Manning, perhaps he can have the same surgery Manning had, but in his case without anesthesia.
SOFREP reported
Recently, Spenser Rapone re-tweeted a post on Twitter which announced that he would be speaking at a socialist event in July as he was being processed out of the Army this June with an other than honorable discharge. This was likely the harshest punishment the Army could give Rapone unless they decided to charge him with something like sedition. With an other than honorable discharge, Rapone will not be entitled to VA benefits, the GI Bill, and may have difficulties in finding employment.
As an avowed communist, one who is networked with other like-minded individuals, he may find a bit of a safety net after he is discharged from organizations he associates with such as the Democratic Socialists of America Veterans Working Group, which is reputed to be about 150 members strong. None the less, Rapone’s political decisions and judgments will likely follow him long after he separates from the military.
In addition to supporting Communism, Rapone used his Twitter feed to attack Defense Secretary James Mattis as “the most vile, evil f**k in the current administration.” Also on Twitter, he called Vice President Pence a “f**king medieval, cold-blooded killer,” advocated political violence against the right, and referred to President Trump as a fascist (note the asterisks are mine Rapone spelled out the word on Twitter).
Now you might say he was exercising his freedom of speech, but members of the military are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice(UCMJ), and chapter 88 of the code says:
“Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
The code makes total sense because without respect for the chain of command a military cannot be successful.
There is no room in the military for people like Spenser Rapone, people who hate this country. The vast majority of people who serve are heroes who want to protect America, Rapone is a fraud who deserved to have an army boot shoved up his arse.
