Commie Infiltrator?

Last week, a photo came to light in which a West Point cadet posed at his 2016 graduation while showing the underside of his cover. ‘Cover’ is the proper term for the hat/cap in a military uniform ensemble.

Spenser Rapone (l) at his graduation from West Point

On the cover’s underside is this assertion: “Communism will win.”

That cadet is now 2LT Spenser Rapone and, because of the exposure of the photo, Rapone’s advocacy for communism has come to light. Debra Heine aka Nice Deb has a great outline of Rapone’s beliefs here.

A commenter at This Ain't Hell had this to say about Rapone: “Somewhere, some Sergeant First Class or First Sergeant is saying, ‘See? I f*cking told you so!’”

I’d have to check, but I don’t think that the military sanctions members for its political/ideological beliefs (anymore), though I’m pretty sure that this revelation has ensured that the lieutenant will not get promoted; commissioned officers who are passed over for promotion – rifted -- are involuntarily separated from the service.

The best the Army can likely do is get him for defacing his uniform. Civilians should not look at such a thing as a slap on the wrist. The military services take proper wear of the uniform very seriously and for an officer to willfully deface his uniform will probably get him out earlier than being and out-and-out commie infiltrator or being rifted. And, likely, Rapone’s separation would be of the Big Chicken Dinner variety. Just found out that commissioned officers cannot receive a BCD or a dishonorable discharge. Chew on that.

Then, there’s his advocacy for political violence – in line with his support for ANTIFA. His political ideology has been known to West Point and the Army since 2015.

Recall that the Army knew about leanings of Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Hassan -- former Army Major and MD -- well before his murder spree.

Some of my fellow veterans suspect that Rapone's openness has an unstated purpose: to get out of his West Point appointment and, thereby, his Army commitment. This makes sense to me. A true communist infiltrator would keep silent and wear the appearance of the perfect officer; he/she would understand the concept of OPSEC and apply it to his/her mission.

However, if the latter was Rapone's true purpose, I’d say that he overestimated the Army’s ability to learn from its mistakes.

There are nastier surprises in store, as we found out earlier this week.

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