Newly enlisted US Army SPC Simran Preet Singh Lamba has become the first non-medical officer observant Sikh to enter the US Army in decades (previously noted). Lamba is permitted to keep his beard and wear a turban. Outside of his hair and beard, the Army didn’t treat Lamba uniquely: Read more
According to news reports, former Army Lt Dan Choi (once again) chained himself to the White House perimeter fence, resulting in arrest by the park police. Rather than walking away in cuffs, he apparently chose to “go limp.” Last time Choi did the same thing he was actually still an officer in the Army.
Choi was discharged last summer under DADT, and he recently tried to re-enlist during the 8-day injunction of the law banning homosexuals from serving in the military.
The next time Choi tries to sign up with the military, it should show him the door, regardless of the status of DADT. He apparently lacks the strength of character to Read more
According to a local news station, PFC Naser Abdo has been recommended for honorable discharge five months after seeking status as a conscientious objector.
Abdo had previously been called a “traitor” by the American Islamic Forum for Democracy for seeking CO status while opposing only US military operations, not war in general.
As noted earlier, a Christian Ensign has sued the Navy with the help of the ACLU for not getting CO status, despite declaring himself a pacifist.
Despite President Obama’s continuing assurances about the pending repeal of the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” there are already murmurings the repeal rider to the Defense Authorization Act is effectively dead. Now, the Supreme Court may have put another nail in the coffin of repeal, and it wasn’t their recent decision to uphold the appellate court’s stay, which allows DADT to be enforced while the trial continues.
It was Justice Kagan’s non-participation in the ruling: Read more
A day after the Family Research Council called for an investigation, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates reportedly ordered an inquiry into the “leak” of results from the Comprehensive Working Group’s report on the potential impact of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
From the DoD release on the topic: Read more
A few months after advocates for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” criticized the Defense Department’s survey as biased against homosexuals, the Family Research Council has also openly criticized the same survey from the opposite side of the issue.
One of the FRC’s main criticisms is that the Department of Defense never asked members or their families (the two survey groups) if DADT should be repealed. From the beginning, military leadership has emphasized the survey presumed it would be.
Recently, news reports “leaked” the “results” that the survey
found that most U.S. troops and their families don’t care whether gays are allowed to serve openly and think the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” could be done away with…
As the FRC report notes, the surveys asked no such questions. However, it is possible to arrive at that conclusion by, as the FRC says, “manipulating” Read more
The North Carolina city of King has been in the news over the past few months over its decision to remove a Christian flag from a veteran’s memorial — after a threat of financial ruin from the ACLU. Local citizens subsequently raised their own Christian flag, and then stood guard over it 24/7.
King officials, with pro bono assistance from the Alliance Defense Fund, recently voted to reinstate the memorial…sort of: Read more
MAAF president Jason Torpy’s out-of-left field remarks about a USAFA religious training scenario were previously offered for consideration. Based on what the regulations actually say, the following is most consistent with the environment of religious respect and religious freedom in the military, specifically tailored to the USAFA cadet culture: Read more