The Atlanta Journal-Constitution carries an article on the recent complaint of a Jewish Army trainee regarding religious discrimination (see previous discussion).

The AJC notes that there were three “offenses”:

• The trainee was told to remove his yarmulke.  As previously discussed, the drill sergeant was incorrect in telling him to do so.
• The trainee was not allowed to pray while on guard duty.  The Army noted that no soldier is allowed to pray while on guard duty (at least not in a formal fashion).
• A drill sergeant with previous time in Germany referred to the trainee with the German Juden, which has been described as perjorative.  An Army spokesman said the sergeant did not know that it was perjorative, but that such ignorance was no excuse.

The article also notes that the unit did not hear about the complaints until it received a letter from a Congressman.

A local Jewish leader, who is also a retired Navy O-6, said

There’s not this great conspiracy out there…and the Army is absolutely behind rectifying any issues that need to be resolved…These drill sergeants had not set out to be anti-Semitic or discriminatory. They just screwed up, and the Army has dealt with it appropriately.

The retired Navy Captain “runs a Jewish religious program in Columbus that attracts about 300 soldiers every week.”

It was interesting to note the absence of any reference to the MRFF, which had claimed that the trainee had been called a “kike” and “[expletive] Jew.”