Faith Under Fire: DADT and Religious Liberty

The Alliance Defense Fund’s Speak Up website has an article entitled “Faith Under Fire: DADT and Religious Liberty” that summarizes and includes links to the variety of organizations and individuals who have opposed the repeal of the policy commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The site also includes a video of a half dozen retired Chaplains — ranging from Lt Commander to Brigadier General — addressing the issue of normalizing homosexual behavior and its impact on religious freedom in the US military.

Air Force Bans Mood-Altering Substances

Many debates about restrictions on personal choices in the military often devolve to what the military is allowed to do with regard to “victimless” crimes or things that are legal outside the military.

The Air Force — notably, not the Department of Defense — recently changed a regulation to expand the prohibition on “mood altering substances.”

The revised language makes punitive the prohibition in the current Air Force Instruction regarding the ingestion of any substance, other than alcohol or tobacco, for the purpose of altering mood or function…

The guidance cited the designer drug “spice,” salvia divinorum, inhalants, household chemicals, solvents and prescription drug abuse.

As noted earlier, the Air Force has already discharged Airmen over use of “spice,” something which is legal in most jurisdictions in the United States.

To remind those who quickly forget, the US military can — and does — regulate personal conduct, even if that conduct is legal outside of the military and even if that “private choice” is believed not to affect any other person.

TSA: No Grenades on Commercial Flights

In case you were wondering, the Transportation Security Administration has issued a reminder to US military members that explosives are not allowed on commercial flights.

TSA spokesman Lauren Gaches said agency workers occasionally encounter servicemembers who have packed inert grenades or other prohibited items in their luggage, often as a keepsake from the battlefield.

While this may seem intuitive on some level, the situation is understandably complex for military members.  Unlike past conflicts with mass, dedicated-military transportation, many servicmembers travel to and from the combat zone on commercial aircraft (or they transfer from a military theatre flight to a commercial flight), and they bring their weapons, combat gear, etc, with them.

It is not unheard of for a representative of a chartered commercial flight to brief a planeload of Soldiers about what’s not allowed onboard — only to have all of them start asking what they’re supposed to do with the Gerbers on their belts and the knives in their boots.

At least the TSA is confiscating the contraband, rather than arresting the military member as might happen if a civilian tried to board a flight with a similar item.

The Army Air Force, 2010

A common “gotcha” question among the American military services is Which branch has the most aircraft?

The answer:  The US Army.

While most people think the Army Air Forces ceased to exist just after World War II (at the birth of the Air Force), the US Army retains a large air force of its own.  Granted, most of its aircraft are rotary (helicopter) rather than fixed wing, but its total number of aviation assets exceeds that of the Air Force, which is generally the assumed answer.

Still, the US Army does retain some fixed wing assets.  The Mississippi National Guard — not the Air National Guard — recently flew out to document some of the Gulf oil spill incident.  The aircraft was a C-23 Sherpa, and it was flown by the typical Army aviator: a Warrant Officer.

The Army had been planning to acquire the C-27 to replace the C-23, though funding for the Army’s allocation of C-27s was previously in doubt.

Christian Perspectives: Journal of Faith and War

The “Journal of Faith and War” is a relatively new resource of the Association for Christian Conferences, Teaching and Service (ACCTS) (see links).  The site

aims to influence for good the faith basis of morally responsible leadership in regard to preparing for war, going to war, fighting wars, concluding wars, evaluating wars, and maintaining discipline and accountability among parties involved in planning, projecting or applying military force. It will examine national defense decisions, policies, and strategies as well as the leadership of military and security forces.

Col Don Snider’s article on the authentic Christian witness in the military is at that site, as are a variety of articles on Biblical service, “calling” and the military, and others.  As the site collects content, it may prove to be a valuable resource for mature Christian and professional military insight.

See links to this and other valuable sites at the Links page.

Buddhist Chaplain Leads Holy Day in Iraq

US Army Chaplain (1LT) Thomas Dyer — the Baptist-Pastor-turned-Buddhist-Priest who became the US Army’s first Buddhist Chaplain — led 200 people in a celebration of the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar while deployed to Iraq in May.

US military members from across Iraq were invited to the celebration and were allowed to travel to the base specifically for the observance.

The official effort the US military puts into allowing — even encouraging — its members to participate in the religious services of their choosing is significant.  Military members can take comfort in knowing that their leadership has their spiritual resiliency in mind and will, to the extent the mission allows, protect their free exercise.

Still, all is not without controversy. Read more

Religious Minorities in Afghanistan Struggle

The Sikh Times notes the continuing struggle of minority religions in Afghanistan, focusing primarily on Sikhs and Hindus.  One Sikh, Awtar Singh, is the only non-Islamic member of Afghanistan’s parliament, and he feels powerless to support those of his or other minority faiths:

“No one in the government listens to us, but we have to be patient, because we have no other options,” says Singh…

While tens of thousands of Muslim Afghans have [similar] problems, they at least have politicians or leaders fighting their corner.

The article also noted a fascinating highlight of the differing cultural understandings and acceptance of religious freedom:

Afghan Hindus were baffled by Western outrage at one Taliban decree – ordering them to wear a yellow tag to identify their religion Read more

New Ejection Seat Improves T-38

The Air Force has announced that the 50 year old fleet of T-38 Talons, the AF’s primary jet trainer, is being upgraded with a new ejection seat.  The Martin Baker seat will reportedly be a vast improvement over the prior version, integrating the parachute with the seat (so it no longer has to be carried to the jet by the pilot) as well as giving the T-38 a zero-zero ejection capability.

The modification includes sequenced ejection; in the original version of the T-38, each cockpit ejected independently of the other.  Now, either cockpit can command ejection, both seats will go, and the rear seat will always go first.

This is not an insignificant change.  In 2009, a rear seat crew member ejected while the front seat pilot did not.  Since the seats were independent, the front seater remained in the aircraft to impact.

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