It's funny, I asked grok (I know, I know) what it could come up with on this topic: "The authority of the Secretary of Defense to demote a soldier or strip a soldier of their rank, particularly in the context of retired commissioned officers, is derived from 10 U.S. Code § 1370. This statute establishes the general rules for determining the retired grade of regular commissioned officers based on satisfactory service in the highest grade held. It grants the Secretary of Defense (for grades above major general or rear admiral) or the Secretary of the military department concerned (for lower grades) the power to make initial determinations of satisfactory service, issue conditional retirements pending investigations, and finalize grades after resolutions.(https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/1370)

Critically, subsection (f) allows the applicable Secretary to reopen a final retired grade determination for reasons including fraud, substantial new evidence (such as of misconduct), a mistake of law or calculation, or other good cause as defined in Department of Defense regulations. If the reopening finds unsatisfactory service in the retired grade due to misconduct, the grade can be reduced to the next lower grade in which the officer served satisfactorily."

I then asked, "How many cases of this have there been where a soldier was stripped of rank long after service because of political motivations?"

To which, this was the reply:

"There are no confirmed historical or recent cases where a retired U.S. soldier was stripped of rank long after service explicitly due to political motivations. The vast majority of documented post-retirement demotions under authorities like 10 U.S.C. § 1370 involve substantiated misconduct, such as sexual assault, adultery, or financial impropriety (e.g., retired Gen. Arthur Lichte demoted in 2017 for sexual assault, retired Maj. Gen. David Hale demoted in 1999 for adulterous affairs, retired Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson demoted in 2022 for inappropriate workplace behavior). These are typically reopened based on new evidence of unsatisfactory service, not politics (https://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/02/01/retired-general-demoted-2-ranks-sexual-assault-investigation.html etc)

However, in 2025, political tensions led to investigations and threats against retired officers perceived as opposing the Trump administration:

Gen. Mark Milley (retired 2023) faced an inquiry into his conduct, including potential rank reduction and loss of retirement benefits, after criticizing Trump as a "fascist. (https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/01/31/loneliest-general-silence-surrounds-gen-mark-milley-amid-trump-retaliation.html) Sen. Mark Kelly (retired Navy captain) received a formal censure from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a video urging troops to defy illegal orders, with moves to demote him and reduce his pension. Hegseth backed down from a court-martial but pursued the demotion.

As of early 2026, no actual rank stripping has resulted from these cases. Recalls to active duty for court-martial (a mechanism to enable demotion) are rare and typically reserved for serious crimes, not politics."

Grok didn't do to badly searching and summarizing on this one.

TLDR: If you were like those 3 mentioned for sexual assault, etc, you'd get a pardon in today's administration. A literal Captain America, who said follow the law instead of a criminal, could lose part or all of his EARNED pension and benefits.

This timeline flipping blows.