Out of a Perfectly Good Airplane

Some people call skydiving “jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.”  US Army Staff Sgt Ben Borger took it to a new extreme when he jumped out of a C-17 at 32,000 feet in a “wingsuit.”  He reportedly broke a world record for traveling 11.5 miles after jumping, which translates to slightly more than 2 miles of horizontal travel for every mile he fell.

An airplane, of course, could have travelled much further, and it wouldn’t have needed to hitch a ride after landing…

Military Paper Derides Christian Belief

The past week or so has seen the renewal in notice of a 2008 paper written by Army Maj Brian L. Stuckert. (The paper was criticized in December 2009 by the WorldNetDaily, and defended by MediaMatters in the same period.)  Entitled “Strategic Implications of American Millennialism,” (pdf) the Major’s paper is largely critical of some aspects of Christian belief.

First, points of clarification:  The paper was written as an academic product while Stuckert was a student at the School of Advanced Military Studies, which is an official professional military education course.  Such military courses often permit a wide variety of topics for their students’ papers.  The topic of religion is not off limits in this environment.  In addition, Read more

The Need for Chaplains in Combat

A local paper documents the upcoming return to combat of a Catholic Priest and US Army Chaplain.  The article focuses on details from Chaplain (Maj) Brian Kane’s prior tour in 2005, and several of the anecdotes highlight the strong need for Chaplains in the US military.

The men went to the Al Anbar province at Al Asad airbase in western Iraq. Due to the shortage of priests, Kane spent the year traveling more than 5,500 miles by helicopter or convoy. He visited small bases that didn’t have a Catholic priest and small field hospitals, hearing confessions, saying Mass and counseling anyone who wanted to talk…

In one of the more interesting stories, he would ultimately Read more

Military Religion Question Answered: Beliefs, Part 2

The last Military Religion Question of the Day asked if a military Chaplain’s article about God’s provision was correctly characterized by a critic:

The…Chaplain writes about why women were created (as an afterthought to keep men from being lonely), marriage as a Christian institution, and segues to a blatant Jesus salvation pitch.

The critic did not directly accuse the Chaplain of wrongdoing.  Instead, he appears to be holding the Chaplain’s beliefs up for ridicule.  Is the mockery justified?

The critic’s interpretation of the Chaplain’s description of “why women were created” Read more

USAFA Cadets Give SecDef The Bird

Many distinguished (and some undistinguished) speakers come to the US Air Force Academy to speak to the cadet wing.  Sometimes these speeches are done during a military training period within the school day; others are delivered in the evening.

A time-honored tradition at the US Air Force Academy is the presentation to those speakers (most, but not all) with a statuette of the USAFA mascot, the falcon.  After the speaker concludes their remarks, a cadet leader enters the stage and thanks the speaker for their wise words.  As he holds the statuette aloft, he then says that on behalf of the cadet wing, he would like to present the speaker with…

…and the entire wing shouts out: The Bird!

It is an interesting and entertaining example of both stereotypical  Read more

Chaplain’s “Changing of the Stole” in Iraq

A “change of command” is a process in which a military unit publicly sees its leadership change from one person to another.  The 1st Infantry Division, or “Big Red One,” recently saw a “time honored tradition” in a similar ceremony when a new division Chaplain assumed his duties.

Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Timothy Mallard, division chaplain for the 1st Inf. Div., donned the stole, which bears the names of the head chaplains for the division since the Balkans.

The changing of the stole ceremony is based on the Old Testament Read more

Commander Helps Troops’ Religious Celebration

The recent religious “high holidays” highlighted US military efforts to accommodate the faiths of those within its ranks.

Two important perspectives were recently expressed in reaction to the celebration of Passover in Iraq by US servicemembers.  First, from a young celebrant:

“It’s a big deal for morale, especially for Jewish Soldiers,” said Jason Kocsis [of the] Louisiana National Guard. “To be able to get together with other Soldiers of the Jewish faith and share what you normally share back at home with family, it gives you more of a taste of home and what we have to look forward to.” (emphasis added)

Second, from a senior officer who is not only a celebrant, but also a commander:

“The Army and these Soldiers are a part of our extended family during war-time,” said Lt. Col. Mednick, who is in charge of all aviation operations in the [northern] area of operations…”It’s very important to not spend this holiday alone and I’m proud to provide that culture for these Soldiers.” (emphasis added)

Finally, it is also important to note the military supports the religious exercise Read more

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