More Than Patriotism on Their Sleeves: Military Patches Sport Trump Likeness
Troops wearing patches that say “Make Aircrew Great Again” during President Trump’s visit Tuesday to the United States amphibious assault ship Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan, on Tokyo Bay.CreditErin Schaff/The New York Times
ImageTroops wearing patches that say “Make Aircrew Great Again” during President Trump’s visit Tuesday to the United States amphibious assault ship Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan, on Tokyo Bay.CreditCreditErin Schaff/The New York Times By Eric Schmitt May 28, 2019
WASHINGTON — When President Trump delivered a Memorial Day speech to the crew of the amphibious assault ship Wasp in Tokyo Bay on Tuesday, some of the nearly 1,000 sailors and Marines aboard were wearing more than patriotism on their sleeves.
At least a few service members wore round patches emblazoned with a likeness of Mr. Trump and the words “Make Aircrew Great Again” — a play on his campaign slogan — on their flight suits.
Images of the patches went viral, and the Navy soon found itself with a hornet’s nest on its hands. “They’re inappropriate & against regulation,” tweeted Mark Hertling, a retired three-star Army general.
Seemingly caught between enforcing uniform protocols and potentially getting crosswise with the commander in chief, the Navy, at least for the moment, punted on deciding whether to mete out any punishment.
“The Navy leadership is currently reviewing this instance to ensure that the wearing of the patch does not violate D.O.D. policy or regulations,” Lt. Samuel R. Boyle, a Navy spokesman, said in a statement, referring to the Department of Defense.
In a telephone interview, Lieutenant Boyle sought to play down the uproar and said some crew members had made the patches a couple of years ago. “It’s kind of old news,” he said.
Spokesmen for the Army and Air Force, wanting no part of the brewing patch flap, referred all questions about their own policies on unofficial insignia to the Navy.
It is not the first time that Mr. Trump, while visiting American troops overseas, has drawn accusations that he is playing politics with the military.
During his surprise visits to United States service members in Iraq and Germany in December, Mr. Trump singled out red “Make America Great Again” caps in a sea of military fatigues, signed a “Trump 2020” patch, and accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats of being weak on border security.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump treated his appearance aboard the Wasp as a Memorial Day event because it was still Monday in the United States when he spoke to hundreds of sailors and Marines, many shouting, “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”
In the back of the buoyant crowd, some of the crew members wearing the Trump patches pleaded with news media photographers to get the president to sign their mementos. (Mr. Trump was already signing dollar bills, Bibles and other souvenirs.)
The proliferation of Trump hats and other paraphernalia at military events that Mr. Trump attends shows, in part, that rank-and-file troops feel more comfortable showing their political stripes, said Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University.
“Soldiers who would carefully avoid political speech in public would be cavalier about politicized posts on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter,” Mr. Feaver said.
While difficult to document precisely, Mr. Feaver said it was likely that Mr. Trump’s taboo-busting approach to civil-military norms was playing a role, one that some experts say could have a corrosive effect on the nation’s armed forces.
Still, Mr. Feaver noted that the military has survived worse over the years: “The rank and file have always balanced a life of discipline, rigor and boredom, with transgressive acts as a way of letting off steam.”
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Erin Schaff contributed reporting from Yokosuka, Japan.
A version of this article appears in print on May 29, 2019, on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Patches Worn at Trump Visit Has Navy Reviewing Policies.
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