Rules for public officials in military cause confusion

ST. LOUIS -- A ruling that Missouri state Sen. Jon Dolan should not have left his military assignment in Cuba to cast a vote in the legislature has left other politicians serving in the military confused about their responsibilities.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday that some politicians are planning to perform the same functions that Dolan's superiors at U.S. Southern Command said he should not have performed.

Meanwhile, the National Guard is asking state Guard commanders to interpret exactly what the Pentagon's directive in such cases means.

Dolan, a major in the Army National Guard, received a letter of admonition for leaving Cuba last September to cast the deciding vote in the Legislature's override of Gov. Bob Holden's veto of a concealed weapons bill. An investigation found that Dolan violated a Pentagon directive that bars reservists who hold public office from performing functions of that office if they have served for more than 270 days.

Dolan was ordered to end all contact with his office. Instead, he chose to leave his tour and will return to the legislature on Tuesday.

Missouri state Rep. Jim Avery, R-Crestwood, a Guard member training at Fort Riley, Kan., said he believes the policy means only that he can't engage in overtly political activities such as voting or fund-raising.

"I plan on running my office," Avery said. "Obviously, I don't think I should come home on every vote, and I already gave my commander my word I wouldn't do that. But if school kids or senior citizens want to write me, I'll get back to them."

But Ohio state Rep. John Boccieri, a captain in the Air Force Reserve who is preparing for possible deployment to Iraq, said he's unclear what he can and cannot do. He has sponsored a bill in Ohio to let legislators vote in absentia while on active duty, if their commanders in the field allow it.

The Southern Command has asked the National Guard to explain to reservists the Pentagon's directive on political activity. But the Guard said that's impossible.

"The (Defense Department) directive does not list the functions that should not be performed by political or elected officials who have been mobilized," said Maj. Ellen Krenke, a National Guard spokeswoman. "They can't do that. It's not possible. You can't write down every single thing that they can and can't do."

Legislators appear to be making their own decisions on what is required.

Iowa's Republican Party chairman, state Sen. Charles Larson, who is in Kansas preparing for duty in Iraq, said he has cut off virtually all contact with his office.

"Since he was activated, we haven't spoken with him at all, because he's serving the country," said Kristin Scuderi, spokeswoman for the Iowa GOP.

But Florida state Rep. Carey Baker has carried on as normally as possible while serving in Iraq for almost a year with the Florida Army National Guard.

"We handle that by e-mail and by phone," said his legislative aide, Gale Bass. "Occasionally if they would move his company, we would have some downtime, but mostly anything I need to know I can ask him and we'll get an answer back the next day. We file bills the same way; we write or e-mail and he lets us know by the next day whether he wants to file it or not."