Tag Archives: operation christmas child

Christmas Around the Military

In a summary of how Christmas was treated around the military this year:

Air Force leadership wished their Airmen “Happy Holidays“, without expressly saying to what holidays they were referring.

Fort Stewart had an actual Christmas tree with Christmas carols, though the quotation about the meaning of the season — “a time to grow and reflect” — was a bit off.

Schofield Barracks managed to only light a “Holiday Tree,” though seeming to tacitly acknowledge there was only one holiday that was celebrated with a lit tree in December.

The US Air Force continued its annual tradition of supporting Operation Christmas Drop.

Fairchild AFB managed to use the word “holiday” five times in a single caption — and didn’t use “Christmas” once, despite referring to songs, trees, and Santa Claus, all on Read more

Breaking: Mikey Weinstein FOIA Lawsuit Dismissed with Prejudice

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein settled his FOIA lawsuit with the US Air Force Academy last week (making it the first lawsuit against the military/government he’s filed that wasn’t summarily tossed out). Weinstein had filed the lawsuit after he alleged USAFA was unresponsive to his Freedom of Information Act request.

One of USAFA’s complaints about Weinstein’s FOIA was that it was overly broad, and the settlement appears to specifically address that concern by having Weinstein cite the specific location of record searches and the subjects of the records sought.

(For the uninitiated, that information should have been in the initial FOIA request Weinstein Read more

US Army Continues Decades Long Support of Holy Family Home

The US Army recently highlighted how Soldiers from the 27th Infantry Regiment continue to support the Holy Family Home out of Japan — a relationship that began during the American occupation at the end of World War II. As described by a unit commander,

“Today, as we begin the 59th visit of the children to Hawaii, we look forward on building on the tradition of love and friendship begun so many years ago,” said Lt. Col. Glen T. Helberg, commander, 2-27th Inf. Regt., 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

The relationship between the US Army and the Catholic orphanage began when a Red Cross representative introduced members of the 27th Infantry Regiment to the orphanage — and discovered it in dire shape: Read more

Mikey Weinstein Aims for Christmas Villain Hat-Trick

In what is becoming an annual tradition, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein and his self-founded “charity,” the oddly-named Military Religious Freedom Foundation, have been nominated for or have won recurring Christmas-villain awards for his attacks on military religious freedom.

Weinstein “won” the Liberty Institute’s Scrooge Award in 2014, after he was nominated for his infamous “cadet whiteboard” attack, in which he aimed his invective at a US Air Force Academy cadet who had the gall to write a Bible verse on a dry erase board. Weinstein has been nominated again this year for his attack on, again, US Air Force Academy cadets — this time, members of the football team who choose to take a knee prior to their games.

MRFF supporters are aware of the voting for Liberty Institute’s award and are trying to shoot the moon, apparently thinking that being viewed as a rich, crass, stone-hearted cynic is a good thing.

After missing out last year, Mikey Weinstein’s MRFF has been nominated for Read more

Mikey Weinstein Threatens Lawsuit for Being Called “Grinch”

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has reportedly threatened to sue the Christian Examiner for posting a commentary entitled “How the Grinch stole Christmas – at Dover Air Force Base.”

The commentary is actually a very well-written and astute piece by Dr. Gregory Tomlin, an Assistant Professor of Church History and a faculty instructional mentor for Liberty University Divinity School, who clearly explains both the constitutional and military regulation issues surrounding Weinstein’s complaint about the now-infamous Operation Christmas Child email sent by a Dover AFB secretary.

Tomlin accurately notes that  Read more

US Marines Can Wear Pink, But Airmen Can’t Mention Orphans

When Michael “Mikey” Weinstein complained last month that an Air Force secretary had the audacity to include an announcement for Operation Christmas Child in a mass email (which he called “openly and willfully proselytiz[ing] the evangelical Christian faith”), her boss was quick to send an email out to the unit “disavowing” her announcement.

In the interim, no one seems to mind that US Marines are wearing pink to raise money for a similarly non-Federal entity [emphasis added]:

As a fundraiser for breast cancer research, the [Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 166 Reinforced] had their unit logo patches, which each Marine is authorized to wear on coveralls and flight suits, made in pink and white.

“For each patch sold, we donate a dollar to breast cancer research,” said Read more

Commander Violates Regs in Response to Mikey Weinstein

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has claimed a “decisive MRFF win” now that 436 FSS commander LtCol Don Tasker sent an email addressing the “controversy” over the prior Operation Christmas Child announcement. Weinstein said the Air Force “ENDORSEMENT OF FUNDAMENTALIST CHARITY [was] REVOKED IN UNDER 26 HOURS”. The email, as distributed by Weinstein, says:

From: 436 FSS/CC
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 4:19 PM
To: 436 FSS Personnel Only
Subject: //ACTION/ROUTINE//Religious Endorsement

FSS Team,

Recently an email regarding a volunteer opportunity was forwarded to the entire 436 Force Support Squadron. The invitation included in that email Read more

Mikey Weinstein Attacks Air Force over Operation Christmas Child

occFour years ago Michael “Mikey” Weinstein attacked the US Air Force Academy when cadets sent out emails to the rest of the cadet wing announcing their involvement in Operation Christmas Child (OCC). Weinstein’s asinine demands resulted in media confusion but no real change to what USAFA cadets were doing.

Now Weinstein is after Air Force involvement in OCC again, and his position is just as ludicrous.

Briefly, Weinstein says (PDF) a commander’s Read more

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