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Active-duty Navy sailor appeared on stage at partisan RNC convention in Dallas, breaching Pentagon political-activity ban

On September 10, 2026, active-duty Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Wilbert Joseph Castañeda appeared on stage as part of the production at the Republican National Committee's midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, holding a sign referencing his prior detention in Venezuela. Defense Department Directive 1344.10 limits active-duty service members at partisan conventions to attending as spectators, and a former military defense attorney said stepping onto the stage as part of the production crossed that line. The Pentagon did not respond to press inquiries about whether his appearance was authorized.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Dallas, Texas

Abuses documented

Actors

  • Republican National Committee
  • Wilbert Joseph Castañeda (Petty Officer 2nd Class, U.S. Navy)

On September 10, 2026, active-duty Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Wilbert Joseph Castañeda appeared on stage as part of the production at the Republican National Committee's midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, holding a sign referencing the nearly a year he spent imprisoned in Venezuela before a prisoner exchange, negotiated by the Trump administration, freed him. Castañeda did not wear his military uniform and did not deliver remarks, but he walked onto the stage with several other individuals as an announcer told the partisan crowd to welcome "brave Americans who were taken hostage during the Biden administration and freed last year by President Trump."

Defense Department Directive 1344.10 permits active-duty service members to attend partisan political conventions and rallies only as spectators, out of uniform, and only where their presence cannot reasonably be interpreted as an official military endorsement; violating the policy can be charged under military justice articles for failing to obey an order or regulation. Cody Harnish, a former Army Judge Advocate General officer now practicing as a defense attorney for service members, told CBS News that stepping on stage as part of the production crossed the line the directive draws: "If he had been sitting in the audience, his attendance would have been fine. The moment he stepped on stage as part of the production, he stopped being a spectator."

Castañeda remained on active duty as of the day after the convention. The Pentagon did not respond to CBS News's inquiries about whether his participation had been approved in advance, and it was not immediately clear whether Navy officials knew about the appearance beforehand. A U.S. Navy special warfare official separately confirmed to CBS News that Castañeda remains on active duty but is no longer a qualified Navy SEAL, after his SEAL qualification device was pulled years earlier over a documented performance issue unrelated to the convention appearance.

Why we recorded this

Civilian control of the military depends on uniformed service members staying visibly outside partisan politics, which is why Defense Department Directive 1344.10 limits active-duty personnel at partisan political conventions to spectators only. An active-duty Navy petty officer instead walked onto the stage as part of a Republican National Committee convention production, and the Pentagon would not say whether his appearance had been authorized. This archive records it because a political party visibly staging an active-duty service member as part of its production, with the department declining to explain whether it was condoned, blurs the line the ban exists to hold.

Sources

  1. Navy sailor who was jailed in Venezuela took stage at GOP convention, in unusual military presence at political event — CBS News primary accessed September 12, 2026

See also