As previously predicted, General Stanley McChrystal has reportedly submitted papers for retirement. Other reports indicate he will retire as a four-star general, though his time in service may have made that questionable.
It might not seem intuitive, but the burgeoning oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has actually impacted training of US Air Force pilots.
Primary water survival training for Air Force pilots is conducted at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Every pilot who goes through Air Force training spends a few weeks at Pensacola undergoing the open water training of the Gulf of Mexico. It is also home to one of the more unique sights in the service: a boat with “US Air Force” on the side.
As of June 4, oil was discovered inside the training area; as a result, Read more
Despite being a recipient of the Weinstein Method, the US Army has reportedly said that threats of legal action are insufficient for it to change the symbol on the Fort Carson Evans Army Community Hospital:
“No one is considering changing any emblem based on a lawsuit or threat of a lawsuit,” Army Lt Col. Christopher Garver told Military.com June 21.
Within the article, Weinstein displays his own hypocrisy: Read more
Marines at Twentynine Palms paused to remember the loss of two of their own during their deployment to Afghanistan:
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends,” quoted Navy [Chaplain] Lt. Michael Taylor…from John 15:13, in the New American Standard Bible.
The two memorialized Marines were Lance Cpl. Cody Stanley and Lance Cpl. Joshua H. Birchfield. The company first sergeant had a moving description for what the Marines witnessed:
Several sources report that the Nampa, Idaho, God and Country Festival that occurs annually during the Independence Day holiday was again denied a flyby by US military aircraft because of the religious content of its festivities. The festival was denied the flyover for the first time in over four decades just last year. The policies relating to the decision-making process can be seen in the discussion on the original controversy.
Interestingly, the organizers have pointed out that they probably could have gotten a flyover if they’d minimized religion within their event. Still, they note the military is supporting the event with other means, including administering the oath of enlistment, and the theme of this year’s event is “honoring our nation’s WWII veterans,” a decidedly patriotic purpose.
Sometimes its hard to tell if a term is an affectionate appellation or an underhanded swipe. Sometimes you might just not want to know.
Courtesy of Merriam Webster.
Chaplain (MajGen) Douglas Carver, the Army’s chief of chaplains, recently attended the Southern Baptist Convention chaplain’s luncheon in Florida. He noted the difficulties of the military life as a whole — with high deployments, challenges to marriage, rising suicide rates, etc — and also the challenges to the Chaplaincy:
“We chaplains must persevere,” he said. “Our faith is being tested and tried. These are the days when spiritual leaders — like our chaplains — must stand the test, press on, be reliable, be authentic, be men and women of integrity and maintain spiritual stamina.”
Douglas Wilson became famous as the Christian half of the Christian/Atheist debate Is Christianity Good for the World?, which was also made into a documentary called Collision.
In late 2008 he was analyzing Greg Boyd’s The Myth of a Christian Nation, which took pains to point out the “contradictions” of Christianity, which included the statement that
It is impossible to love your enemies and bless those who persecute you, while at the same time defending your right to political freedom by killing those who threaten you.
Wilson has some interesting responses to Boyd, who obviously thinks “Christian fighter pilot” (or Christian Soldier, Christian Sailor, Marine, etc.) is an oxymoron (emphasis original): Read more