God and Country

Capt Francis Imlay was killed in Southwest Asia in the crash of his F-15E Strike Eagle.  Reports indicate a second crewmember, normally a backseat WSO/CSO in the Strike Eagle, sustained minor injuries.  The aircraft was reportedly deployed from Mountain Home AFB in Idaho.

Interestingly, none of the brief announcements to date indicate the crew ejected.

As usual, a board will convene to investigate the crash.

US Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), himself a Reserve Marine, has come to the defense of SGT Gary Stein, a Marine who faces an administrative discharge for comments he posted online.

Sgt Stein reportedly posted comments saying he would not obey the orders of the President, and he later clarified his statement to say he would not obey unlawful orders from the President.

This Saturday Stein faces a panel that will determine if he should be administratively separated from the Marines:  Read more…

Michael Weinstein is taking the US Air Force to task, again, for using the word “chapel” in a course from Squadron Officers’ School (SOS), a junior officer military education course.

The sentence at issue is important in context. Therefore, the surrounding text is included below.  Weinstein’s lawyers have declared these words “unconstitutional,” saying the SOS course

mandates that regular chapel attendance is part of the “Spiritual and Ethical Responsibilities” of a commissioned Air Force officer…

That’s an extraordinarily tortured reading of the text.  It’s also ignorant, since it is a commentary on leadership, not an Air Force policy document.

The manufactured offense over a single phrase is so stretched Weinstein likely views this as a test case.  Will the Air Force knee-jerk and scrub the course for the offensive reference to a chapel?  Or will it take a more measured response — or even acknowledge the virtue of the text he is attacking?  The Air Force’s reply will be enlightening.

The “again” portion of this is notable.  The perpetually offended Weinstein Read more…

Chaplains in the US Marine Corps are actually officers in the US Navy.  Chaplain (LtCmdr) Mark Tews comments on the importance of chaplains to his Marines:

“If a Marine is having a bad day and needs a place to go and to feel safe and talk about any issues, the chaplain is always there for them,” he explained. “For Marines, this is a place of sanctuary where they don’t have to worry about anything and can talk with the chaplain about anything.”

The primary organizer of Rock Beyond Belief, the atheist festival occurring this weekend at Fort Bragg, has — again — drug Fort Bragg and the US Army through the mud in an apparent bid for publicity.

In a sensationally titled “Fort Bragg wont let us feed homeless vets at the atheist festival,” Justin Griffith says Fort Bragg denied their plan to do a canned food collection.  Griffith summarized [emphasis original]:

The ‘pro-starvation’ camp has prevailed…

At issue is Joint Ethics Regulation 3-211, which says the DoD can let non-Federal entities (ie, Rock Beyond Belief) use DoD facilities (ie, Fort Bragg’s resources) except for fundraising events.  Apparently, Fort Bragg determined canned food collection was fundraising.

Whether collecting canned food for a charitable cause constitutes non-Federal fundraising is a legitimate question.  Rather than take direct issue with that, however, Griffith took a different tack:  He said the Christians Read more…

Another US Air Force article highlights the tradition of Mustache March, which is rapidly coming to an end.

From the master of the T-top Trans Am, Burt Reynolds, to the bad boy of breakfast buffets, Ron Swanson, powerful males around the world share one feature that is the universal symbol of manhood: the mustache.
 
“Mustache March,” an Air Force tradition with roots going back to the Vietnam era, is a 31-day, fuzzy-lipped free-for-all Read more…

SFC Leroy Petry, recipient of the Medal of Honor, recently addressed the Pentagon’s National Prayer Breakfast on the topics of prayer, faith, and resiliency.

“Our freedom of religion and freedom of practice of that religion in the military is one of our greatest assets to our fighting force,” Sgt. 1st Class Leroy A. Petry told the audience…“We’re truly blessed to Read more…

Many churches have areas of intentional “focus.”  Some emphasize foreign missions, others local charity, others discipleship, etc.  Central Baptist Church in Clovis, NM, has made the conscious decision to focus on serving the military.

Central Baptist Church in Clovis is making an effort to serve military members by transitioning into becoming a military-focused church.
 
Associate Pastor Dick Ross is Read more…

An official military article notes three US Air Force Airmen went through the trials necessary to receive their “cavalry gold spurs.”  To do so, they had to complete a “spur ride.”

The participants formed up outside the Bagram [MWR] and performed a 12-mile ruck march throughout the base. Upon returning…, they dropped their gear and began the various stations that were set up to test their skills. The stations were moderated by Army instructors, referred to only as “Spur Holders.”

“The stations consisted of [weapons] proficiency, M2 headspace and timing, Self Aid and Buddy Care, 9-line Med Evac, Unexploded Ordnance identification, Nine-line UXO, gas mask procedures, land navigation and convoy signaling,” said Longoria.

“Before, during and after each station we would be quizzed by the Spur Holders. Then we were PT’ed until we were physically exhausted. Read more…

Two US Army chaplains, Chaplain (Col) John McGraw and Chaplain (Col) Jerry Lewis, recently took the Army’s resiliency mantra to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Their African hosts seemed to welcome the opportunity:

Chief of DRC Chaplains Col. Jeanne Paul Keela sees the emerging relationship between his organization and U.S. Army chaplains as Read more…

The Stars and Stripes notes the US Navy has “sacked” 150 commanding officers over the last few years for misconduct.  Of 80 instances over a five year period, half were for adultery, inappropriate relationships, harassment, or sexual assault.  One of the solutions noted:  Take a look at the Bible.

So how can the Navy abate this steady tide of offending COs? Perhaps by asking, “What would David do?”

That’s King David, he of Old Testament legend Read more…

A US Air Force F-16 based out of Osan Air Base, Korea, crashed on Wednesday.  The pilot was reportedly “safe” after ejecting.

An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed near Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, during a routine training mission at approximately March 21.

The aircraft, assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron here, was flying a mission as part of the 51st Fighter Wing’s ongoing exercise.

As usual, a board will investigate for about a month.  An accident report will likely make its way to the general public several months from now.

Also noted at FoxNews and the Air Force Times.

Terrence Jeffrey at CNS News asks an interesting question:

Is President Barack Obama more deferential to the religious sensibilities of Afghan Muslims or the religious freedom of American Catholics?

Read his answer.

An official DoD article notes the fighter pilot tradition of Mustache March:

It happens every March like clockwork—men from all across the Air Force, who may otherwise normally be clean-shaven, grow out their cookie dusters, much to the amusement of many around them.

As noted here, the tradition is linked to BrigGen Robin Olds,

Olds was frequently at odds with senior leaders, and had his ways of defying the establishment—most famously (or infamously), the decidedly out-of-regs, heavily waxed handlebar mustache Read more…

While stories of political insensitivity or incorrectness sometimes shock the public (or political) conscience, those within the military often find such displays far less offensive — or rare.

A few years ago, US Air Force F-15 pilot 1Lt Ali Jivanjee was killed in an F-15 training accident.  He was a Muslim fighter pilot who took it upon himself to sign his name “Jihad” — apparently because he’d been “teased” (hazed? bullied?) about his first and middle names being “Ali Akbar” (similar to “Allahu akbar,” a phrase often connected to “jihadists,” for those that don’t make the connection).

His F-15 peers eventually named him “Danny Boy,” because he “needed a good Irish name.”

A fighter squadron is definitely not a bastion of political correctness, or cultural sensitivity.

A recent Military.com article notes the same theme throughout much of the rest of the military.  Makers of accoutrements — including unofficial military uniform patches — with variations of “American infidel” on them are doing gangbuster business:  Read more…