Brig. Gen. Kenneth "Ed" Brandt, a high-ranking chaplain in the U.S. Army National Guard, appears to have violated a little-known federal policy that bars active-duty military personnel from engaging in partisan political speech. A. Benjamin Spencer, a UVA law professor and an officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve, said the DOD's directive is intended to avoid the appearance of impropriety.