Woman Asks If It Was Wrong To Post A Photo Of Herself In Her Boyfriend's Military Uniform After Seeing His Reaction
Olena Yakobchuk | ShutterstockA 25-year-old woman posted on Reddit, asking for advice after she and her 29-year-old boyfriend of six months got into a fight. Her story proved that being a military spouse or significant other is never easy.
Her boyfriend left his uniform on the bed one day while he was showering, and she decided to put it on, take pictures in it, and post them to Facebook, thinking it would be cute. Except her boyfriend's reaction wasn’t quite the one she was expecting. She thinks he may have had an "overreaction," but admitted she could be in the wrong, too.
The woman said she put her boyfriend's uniform on out of boredom, not thinking there could be consequences.
“I felt bored and decided to put it on and took a picture of me wearing it,” she wrote. “I then shared it on my Facebook as my ‘story’ and thought nothing of it. But once he found out he blew up and started yelling at me saying I should have never touched his ‘work stuff.'”
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She didn’t think he would react so negatively, so she tried to cover for herself several times, only to be continuously berated by him. “When he found out I posted a picture of me in it he lost it completely,” she continued. “He told me he can't believe I jeopardized his job ... for some internet likes.”
He was obviously upset, but, in her defense, he never really gave a clear reason as to why he felt that way. She continued, “He kept mumbling that I screwed him over because the uniform had his name tag on it. I asked 'So what?' and he said that I don't get to [expletive] with his job and sabotage it with how I was acting.”
Military veterans and active-duty officers explained why what she did could actually jeopardize her boyfriend's job.
“A U.S. military uniform is for U.S. military personnel,” one person explained. “I got several briefings while I was in explicitly stating that you are not to allow your s/o, parents, children, etc. to wear your uniform and [it] is punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which can in extreme cases lead to court-martial.”
Another added, "Veteran here, and he can get into a lot of trouble for that. That uniform isn't for you to play dress up. He's not overreacting; you're being disrespectful. Not to mention you could cost him his job."
It sounds like the actual legality of the issue is a bit nuanced. According to AeroCorner, it is illegal for a civilian to wear a military uniform "with the intent to deceive others." It doesn't sound like this woman was trying to deceive anyone and just wanted to take some pictures, but it's understandable that it could still be a touchy subject for her boyfriend.
The Army website also warned against sharing too much on social media, as even unclassified information carries a risk that someone on the other side could learn from it. However, it doesn't sound like this woman shared any details through her photos beyond what was on her boyfriend's name tag.
Others had a different explanation for why they thought the boyfriend reacted so strongly.
It doesn't seem like this woman really did anything wrong. And, even if she did, she didn't mean to. It’s no surprise that an ordinary citizen would have no idea that it could get that serious. Her boyfriend could have been kinder, but some people thought he had a good reason not to be.
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At the beginning of her post, she noted, "We live in different towns. He comes over to visit on weekends, but I [have] never been to his hometown, and whenever I try to visit he's always busy." Several people theorized that this meant her boyfriend was actually married without her knowledge and was more worried about his infidelity being discovered.
Apparently, the UCMJ does make it possible for service members who have an affair to be punished. The rules are not as strict as they once were, but a soldier could still be dishonorably discharged. It would be nice to believe that wasn't an issue here, but it does seem more likely than him being upset that she innocently tried on the uniform.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice and relationships.
