Since 1957 the Department of Defense has subjected all forms of speech of U.S. military personnel meant for publication to prepublication review based on security and policy criteria. The historical development of the Defense Department's prepublication review program and its specific implementation by the U.S. Air Force lead to questions of First Amendment implications and of impact on the marketplace of ideas. While there has been little objection to prior restraint of military speech for national security reasons, many people have argued against such restraint when it is based on policy reasons. William Lind of the Military Reform Institute has observed that the Air Force's failure to clear articles which conflict with established policy results in the publication of articles that are irrelevant to significant issues and of poor intellectual quality. Although the Courts have not found such prepublication review to be violative of First Amendment rights, the rapid expansion of military censorship should serve as a warning that apparently innocuous restrictions on speech can have a devastating effect on freedom of expression. (Eighty-five footnotes are included.) (MHC)