President Obama Cites Fighter Pilot Easter

A few days ago, this site noted that a self-described religious freedom organization, Michael Weinstein’s MRFF, had criticized deployed servicemembers for publicly celebrating Easter in the combat theatre.

In an interesting convergence of topics, a message by President Obama recently cited just such a celebration of Easter–and not by just any servicemembers, but by a unit of deployed fighter pilots.  A fascinating photo (below) helps explain.

In his “holiday greetings” distributed on 3 April 2010, the President commented on “war time” observances of Easter, saying:  Read more

Marine Base Guilty of Viewpoint Discrimination

As noted nearly 18 months ago, the US Marines at Camp Lejeune directed 25-year Marine veteran Jesse Nieto to remove stickers from the back of his car that they deemed offensive.  Nieto sued, and a federal judge has now ruled that the base violated Nieto’s rights.

The stickers were described as “anti-Islam;” Nieto put the stickers on his car not long after his son, a Navy Sailor, was killed on the USS Cole when it was bombed in 2000.

Interestingly, it appears the judge did not rule the policy that Camp Lejeune used was inherently bad; instead, he seemed to say it was the unbalanced application Read more

Fighter Pilot Speak: Saved by the Wedge

The Wedge principle is a time-honored military mantra; while it may be present in a wide variety of career fields in the military, the high-visibility nature of the fighter pilot profession has made the Wedge principle a strong and lasting tradition.

The Wedge principle has nothing to do with lever arms, inclined planes, or any other form of engineering.  It is also not to be confused with the callsign “Wedge,” which is given to those who resemble the “simplest tool” ever invented.  Instead, it is a time-honored, unwritten principle that basically says  Read more

MRFF Opposes Troops’ Religious Freedom at Easter

Last September, Chris Rodda, a researcher for Michael Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation, wrote an article enumerating her “Top Ten” list of Christian travesties in the US military, emphasizing acts which “convince the Muslims we’re on a crusade.”  A less combative version of this same list was re-published in the US Air Force’s Attitudes Aren’t Free just a few weeks ago.

At number 8, Rodda lists this rather interesting way in which the US military is showing the Muslim world America is on a crusade:  Read more

Chaplains Take Notes on Deployment Kits

Many military members who deploy have “kits” of items that they take with them, some for personal reasons, other for professional.  Some military branches and specialties also issue kits with required items for the servicemembers in those fields.

Chaplains are no exception.  Over at the Army Chaplaincy Blog, Chaplain Daniel Sparks has a picture and list of the things he packs in his “Chaplain’s Kit” when he deploys.  While size and weight are certainly important, Sparks also mentions another important factor: Read more

Chaplain Ministry Prepares, Comforts Combat Troops

The ministry team of Chaplain (Capt) Steve Fisher and his assistant SSgt Dewey Landers made a special point in Iraq to minister to the Air Force Security Forces on base.  They are one of the few units that is called upon to perform missions “outside the wire.”

The response of the members of the unit to the Chaplain’s visit was an important indicator of the significance of Chaplains in the military.  From their Chief, Michael Fluck:  Read more

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