Colonel in Re-Enlistment Puppet Video: 'Given a Death Sentence'

Speaking to Military.Com (April 25, 2018), Now retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel as a result of the caper, Kevin "Bly" Blaser said realizes he should have stopped the ceremony.

Blaser, who said after a video of him performing the re-enlistment ceremony for Master Sgt. Robin Brown circulated to millions on social media, said he equates the whole blunder to running a stop sign.

"My analogy to all of this is I ran a stop sign," he said. "I should have probably stopped the ceremony. That was bad judgment, I one hundred percent admit that."

But, he continued, the penalty for running a stop sign is a warning or a ticket. In his case, the equivalent might have been a reprimand. "I was given a death sentence," he said.

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Regardless of your personal belief as to whether the ceremony should have been conducted in a more dignified or professional manner, or whether this was just one of many weird re-enlistment ceremonies, it brings to the forefront the effect of social media.  

What you post to social media can quickly take on a life of its own. What you say in e-mail is subject to FOIA (if you are a government employee), and even if you work in the private sector an e-mail could easily find its way into the public view.

The effect of the actions taken against COL Blaser go far beyond this one case. From this point forward any type of weird or out-of-the-ordinary military re-enlistment becomes problematic; and individuals who participated in previous "weird re-enlistment ceremonies" that have a social media presence may now be at risk for future reprimand.