An Air Force Academy press release notes that the active duty Air Force officers who lead cadet squadrons — known as Air Officers Commanding, or AOCs — recently conducted religious respect training for their cadets:

Cadets in the Class of 2014 attended the sessions, learning how best to consider both their views and the views of their subordinates and how best to balance the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Given the somewhat controversial history of religious issues at USAFA (many of which were initiated by external critic Michael “Mikey” Weinstein), the fact the training is occurring is notable.

What is more interesting, however, was the tone of the training conveyed in the article, as heard from the AOC of Might Mach 1, exchange Marine Corps Major Christopher Klempay:

As a commander, I am very sensitive not to force my religion on you, but at the same time, I want to encourage your spirituality, whether it’s going to church or synagogue or a mosque…

However, commanders still have the freedom to exercise their own religious practices, Klempay said.

Klempay then provides a fascinating example. If a commander is forbidden to have a Bible on his desk, as Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claims, then he’d certainly be prohibited from having ash on his forehead on Ash Wednesday, right?

“Picture me as a commander in my office, and I go to an Ash Wednesday service. So there I am sitting in my commander’s chair with an ash cross on my forehead. For starters, the commander’s responsibility to remain impartial does not prohibit me from exercising my faith, so I can do that as a commander.

“But let’s say an Airman of a different faith walks into my office,” Klempay continued. “As a commander, I’ve got to be sensitive to this. I need to be proactive.”

A commander in that position could defuse a potential misunderstanding by telling subordinates that the mark is his personal expression of faith and is not intended to proselytize to others. However, discussion of religion is OK in the course of a regular conversation, Klempay said.

It is an interesting statement on the Air Force religious environment that a commander would think he’d have to explain that the ash on his forehead was not an attempt to convert others to his religion.  Still, Klempay’s “big picture” attitude toward the topic is admirable.  He goes on:

“Personal ‘water-cooler’ discussions of religion are fine,” he said. “So if I’m getting a drink of water and I meet my fellow AOC and ask him, ‘How was mass on Sunday?’ and an Airman walks by, that’s fine. We can have these regular conversations. … Furthermore, if he joins in, that’s fine, too.”

He’s right, of course.  While some people have tried to claim that religious discussions or expressions of faith should be confined to the home or the chapel, the Air Force makes no such distinction.

There was one statement that was either mistranscribed or actually in error:

The cadets in Klempay’s classroom agreed unanimously that a commander should not ask a subordinate to attend services.

“Even if he already is of the same faith, and he does want to go to a service, if you go with him, it looks like you’re establishing a religion,” one cadet said.

A member of the military does not “establish religion” by having a subordinate go with him to a religious service.  The wording was likely an awkward way to try to work the Constitution into the discussion, but the Constitution is actually irrelevant to the point.  A commander in this hypothetical example could engender appearances of an inappropriate relationship or favoritism, so any restrictions on that conduct would be Air Force-based, not Constitution-based.

However, its also worth remembering the Air Force has no explicit policy or regulation to that effect — and it likely can’t, because it would probably be inappropriate to produce a regulation that specifically targets religion.  However, broad-based policies about professional relationships apply regardless of religion.  That means, of course, that if a Jewish commander can’t invite a Jewish subordinate to his synagogue, then a commander can’t invite a subordinate to watch football even if they’re both Broncos fans.  The issue is the relationship (or its perceptions), not religion.

Ultimately, if Klempay is any indicator, the training the AOCs conducted was broad — it covered not just the stigma-producing dictates of what Air Force officer cannot do, but also specifically defended what they can do.

In that regard, Marine Major Klempay also followed the guidance of AFI 1-1 and encouraged Airmen of faith to “confidently practice [their] beliefs.”

That broad approach — encouraging troops to exercise their liberties, not listing all the things they can’t do — marks an admirable attempt at protecting religious freedom in the Air Force.

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