Sex In The Military

A little known fact is that adultery is still illegal in the military. So should Gov. Mark Sanford, as a captain in the Air Force Reserve, face charges for his extramarital affair? Evan McMorris-Santoro looks at the evidence and finds: 

Since his jaunts to Argentina (the ones that we know of) didn’t come when he was on one of his active duty tours with the Air Force, the consensual sex between two adults that occurred wasn’t among the many types the military still considers illegal.

One of those "many types," of course, is gay sex - a crime that results in immediate discharge. But what about adultery?

[C]ourts martial on adultery charges alone are almost unheard of; the charge is usually added atop a list of other crimes, like failing to obey orders, lying to a superior, or sexual misconduct.

In fact, George Bush - a Christian who fired more than 5,000 soldiers simply because they were gay - made it even easier for straight soldiers to get away with adultery:

In April 2002, President Bush further discouraged adultery prosecutions by issuing an executive order that clarified the circumstances that might necessitate legal action. Although the order maintained that "adultery is clearly unacceptable conduct," it also listed a variety of factors that commanders should take into consideration before proceeding with a court martial. These include the accused's rank, the impact of the affair on the involved parties' job performance, and whether any of the hanky-panky took place while the accused was on the clock.