- The US Army said it was investigating whether the presence of two uniformed soldiers during the roll-call vote of party delegates from American Samoa at the virtual Democratic National Convention this week was a policy violation.
- Participating in political events violates the Defense Department's rules about employees maintaining nonpartisanship.
- "Wearing a uniform to a partisan political event like this is prohibited," an Army spokesman said.
- The DNC described its decision to present troops as an "oversight."
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The Army is investigating whether two soldiers who appeared in a clip during the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday evening violated its rules on partisanship.
The uniformed Army soldiers stood behind party delegates of American Samoa during a virtual roll call, when representatives from all 57 states and US territories formally made Joe Biden the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.
Under a long-standing Department of Defense policy, service members are in many cases barred from displaying approval, sponsorship, or endorsement of political parties, candidates, and causes.
"Wearing a uniform to a partisan political event like this is prohibited," an Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Ortiz-Cruz, told Insider on Wednesday.
Ortiz-Cruz sad that examples of prohibited political activities for Army soldiers "include campaigning for a candidate, soliciting contributions, marching in a partisan parade and wearing the uniform to a partisan event."
The spokesman confirmed that the Army was looking into the two soldiers, assigned to the 9th Mission Support Command.
The DNC described the inclusion of troops in the segment as a mistake.
"Each state was asked to highlight issues and values that matter most and the American Samoa delegation wanted to highlight their commitment to military service when they filmed their segment," a DNC official told Insider. "The composition of that shot was an oversight."
Home to roughly 60,000 people, American Samoa had the highest rate of military enlistment of any US state or territory in 2014.
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