God and Country

A Congressman’s idea to name a Navy ship after homosexual activist Harvey Milk has received opposition from a seemingly unlikely group — homosexuals:

Some of the strongest opposition appears to be from the gay community…Some gay activists, at least one city supervisor and others have said Milk was anti-war and wouldn’t want a ship named after him.

The normally non-controversial process of naming vessels after cities and Presidents takes a scandalous turn every now and then when the Navy suggests, or receives a suggestion to consider, naming a vessel after a controversial figure.

Juan Garcia, an assistant to the Secretary of the Navy for manpower, says Secretary Ray Mabus wants a service where opportunities are “gender blind.”  To that end, the Navy is floating the idea of ending gender-specific hats.

“It’s a small thing, but separate covers was in some ways emblematic of a two-tiered sea service force,” Garcia said in an April 10 interview, speaking about Mabus. “He wanted to take a look across the force…to send a signal that our Navy … reward[s] and keep[s] the best talent, regardless of gender.”

Unisex uniforms are nothing new.  In fact, the Air Force recently Read more…

US Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) has reportedly asked the US Navy to name a ship after Harvey Milk, a homosexual activist who was killed while serving as a San Francisco supervisor in 1978. Milk also served in the Navy in the early 1950s — apparently illegally, Read more…

In what is probably the least reported, longest running lawsuit regarding religion and the US military, a group of chaplains has been told they can proceed with some, but not all, of their claims against the Navy.

A slightly changing group of chaplains, chaplain agencies, and churches sued more than 20 years ago alleging the Navy discriminates against Read more…

One of the recurring questions during the recent controversies over military hazing has been what, precisely, is hazing?  While some may think it should be obvious, the nature of the military environment — and the need to explicitly enforce a regulation — make it far less so.  Now,

The new Marine Corps policy now defines hazing as “any conduct whereby a military member or members, regardless of service or rank, without proper authority causes another military member or members to suffer or be exposed to any activity which is cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning or harmful.”

The Patriot Perspective makes some interesting distinctions:

Exposing a Marine to “cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning or harmful” acts with the purpose of making a correction means that a Marine might be saved from being kicked out, from poor Read more…

A US Army article details the support of Army chaplains to families and Soldiers as they deploy and return home.  Check out the name of the chaplain:

“We help strengthen family relationships,” said Maj. Billy Graham, 101st CAB chaplain. “We conduct the ‘Strong Bonds’ retreats for married soldiers and hold events for single Read more…

Admiral John Harvey, the four-star admiral commanding US Fleet Forces Command, had an interesting characterization of the Friday F/A-18D Hornet crash into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach:

“I don’t speak for anybody’s religious beliefs, but the mayor and I both agreed that if you want to define a miracle, what happened here yesterday meets that definition for me,” Adm. John Harvey, the four-star head of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, told reporters.

He also noted the many prayers for the community:  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 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…

Admiral James A. Lyons (Retired) served as the commander of the US Navy’s Pacific fleet when he retired in 1987.  Since then, he has frequently spoken on the military and foreign policy issues, mincing few words when he has done so.  He is an associate in the production of Sharia: The Threat to America, which includes James Woolsey and LtGen (Ret) Jerry Boykin among its contributors.

Most recently, Adm Lyons took President Obama to task for forcing the US military to submit to Islam:

The recent contrived uproar over the inadvertent burning of the Koran…should be seen for what it is: a power-play tactic to make our military forces more submissive to the dictates of Islam, Read more…

The Air Force has issued a “stop work” on the airship known as the Blue Devil, which was to be an “optionally manned surveillance” dirigible.  This is interpreted as the lead-in to the demise of the program.

The Blue Devil 2 was considered to be a herald of next-generation persistent intelligence collection with a potential endurance of more than nine days. Depending on the duration of the mission, the airship would have been able to carry 2,500 pounds of surveillance equipment for five days, or 7,500 pounds if the sortie was shortened to three days.

The CEO of Mav6, Blue Devils’ creator, is David Deptula — formerly LtGen Deptula, deputy chief of staff for ISR and an unusually fervent advocate for UAVs.  It seems he found his civilian calling. The Navy was also researching similar airships.  In an interesting bit of timing, their program just got extended.

The cancellation may render moot Michael Weinstein’s likely offense at the religious reference in the aircraft’s name…

Prominent Milblogger Blackfive had the privilege of attending a Hollywood premiere of Act of Valor.  In his write up, he made an interesting observation:

Two friends of mine, SEALs and Christian brothers, Clint Bruce and Jeff Bramstedt have created and produced a men’s bible study modeled on the SEAL Code and using the film as a demonstration tool. It can be found online at Life of Valor.

The Life of Valor site has an amazing set of videos (25 minutes total, but available in smaller portions)  in their resources that use the experience of the Navy SEALs and apply it to living a life of faith.  The videos are worth your time.

Via Maggie’s Notebook.

US Sailors deployed to Korea helped support the Aikwangwon orphanage on Koje Island in the Republic of Korea earlier this month.  The orphanage has been ongoing for approximately 60 years, started by Kim Im-soon, a Christian convert from her family’s tradition of Confucianism.

“The Navy volunteers did in one day what would have taken over two months to accomplish,” said Kim.

The US servicemen then did what they famously do so well:  They played with the kids.

Sailors split up to interact with the residents and children Read more…

US Navy Chaplain (CAPT) Steve Brown was once an enlisted Marine.  He wanted to serve as a Chaplain, but there are no Marine chaplains — they’re in the Navy.  So that’s what he joined.  He has served for 32 years, and his peer chaplains have recognized that service in recommending him for a servant leadership award.

The John H. Craven Servant Leadership Award is a peer-nominated award that acknowledges the significant Read more…

The Thomas More Law Center has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Center for Military Readiness:

The purpose of the lawsuit is to obtain records believed to show intentional deception by the Pentagon to gain congressional support for repeal of the 1993 law regarding open homosexual conduct in the military, usually called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The TMLC alleges the Pentagon has

engaged in a pattern of deception in its efforts to persuade Congress to allow open homosexuality in our military.

The lawsuit centers around the premise the Pentagon leaked information to the Washington Post in 2010 to sway public opinion and Congress Read more…