If a soldier appeared in uniform on TV badmouthing the President's policy, he very well COULD get in trouble. 1st Amendment wouldn't protect him. Doing so just talking to fellow soldiers, probably not.
Speaking ill of the Commode in chief,especially in a formal session, will result you in prison time...and if say you were doing in a sense to cause a mutiny during a time of war,i believe could result in death... Either way, little more incentive to act appropriately.
Actually the rules for soldiers are very harsh when it comes to public relations - for example,I knew a girl who had been pulled over speeding not far from the base. Apparently in the car with the officer was a camera crew for one of those reality shows. They offered to pay for her ticket (Which was probably around $200-300 since she was speeding pretty fast) if she would sign a waiver should they decide if they wanted to air it or not....Needless to say, she gladly took the ticket - because if she had done so and appeared on tv, she would have lost a lot more than $2000,rank, and spent time on restriction - and if she was lucky she wouldn't have been discharged after that. Not all branches are as harsh, but the Navy was. (For example the Army and Marines allowed multiple strikes for drugs, like 2 or 3x - Navy and Air force are zero tolerance.)
And a veteran, definitely not. He's not on the job.
I think that's the answer to that question... the "out of our lane" metaphor is a little silly. And by a little, I mean a lot.
I don't believe what the Ram's receivers did/have done merit any punishment or things that people have said on here. They are kids, and to be quite honest with everything I know about the Law and being extremely exposed to it (Father's a lawyer), really makes me question the facts and the process of the case. I'm not taking sides on either side, but what I've seen about both sides - especially given how the DA presented the case to the Grand Jury. You don't do that unless you're trying to hide something...
Kinda reminds me of when one of my Command Master Chief's who got popped for 6th DUI, especially at a time when the punishment was maxed out for a minimum DUI (you know,no property damage/no one hurt, etc).... When Regiment Commode got wind of that (Which would be the equivalent of the DA's boss's boss), well needless to say The entire base was called to ranks and the announcement was made (just not who it was,but everyone in our command knew who it was 2 days prior) - believe he was forced retired and we quickly had a new CMC (Which i was greatful for, one of the best leaders i ever met)