The secretary of the Army expressed concern about public perception that the service's top leadership is partisan, Military.com reported.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth's concern follows an inspector general investigation of a general who stood up to criticism of women in the military on Twitter, Military.com reported.
"The key for senior leaders in an environment that is as politicized, unfortunately, as the one that we're all operating in is to exercise good judgment," Wormuth said Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, D.C.
"One of the things I think that's most important to [Army chief of staff, Gen. James McConville] and I is the Army being apolitical and keeping it out of the culture wars because, frankly, we have got to be able to have a broad appeal."
The Washington Post reported last week that an investigation by the Army's Office of the Inspector General found that Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe brought "negative publicity" to the Army for engaging in social media arguments over the military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for troops and criticizing Fox News host Tucker Carlson's critique of gender-based military reforms.
Donahue, the former commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, was investigated by the IG after posting a video of him reenlisting a noncommissioned officer on top of a tank and writing, "Just a reminder that Tucker Carlson couldn't be more wrong," Military.com reported Monday.
Investigators said that tweet "exhibited poor judgment" and prompted news coverage that "cast the Army in a negative light," Military.com reported.
Donahoe, whose retirement, the Post said, is being held up while Army leadership considers how to respond to the IG's probe, also engaged with female service members on Twitter. He often congratulated them for their accomplishments.
The IG said that also was in "poor judgment" and could have been seen as giving the female service members preferential treatment over his other subordinates, Military.com reported.
Wormuth was asked whether the Army's vague social media guidance should be updated.
"I confess I'm not intimately familiar with what our guidance says right now," she said, Military.com reported. "I think senior leaders need to be careful about not getting engaged in partisan discussions over social media or in public remarks."
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