US Army General Vincent Brooks was recently nominated by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to command US Forces-Korea:

U.S. Forces Korea “is part of U.S. Pacific Command, but is a major political military command, a place where we need our very best, and Vince is that, and also an officer with tremendous operational and managerial experience,” Carter said.

Carter said the Asia-Pacific is “the single most consequential region of the world for America’s future.”

More notable to most people was the simultaneous nomination of Gen Lori Robinson to lead NORTHCOM, which would make her the first woman to command a combatant command.

Gen Brooks’ nomination is notable mostly because Michael “Mikey” Weinstein previously demanded the General’s court-martial — not just once, but twice.

In 2007, Gen Brooks participated in the infamous-to-very-few “Christian Embassy” video. While Mikey Weinstein demanded heads on pikes, reports indicated two Generals received “Memoranda of Concern” regarding the video. Gen Brooks is not the only officer from that incident to have subsequently been promoted — twice, in his case, to the highest rank in the US Army.

In 2009, Gen Brooks gave a briefing at Fort Hood. In the background of a local news photo of the General was a Christian chapel flag. Weinstein’s research assistant Chris Rodda called this a photo evidence of General Brooks violating regulations — though, despite a litany of retorts, she never said what regulation was broken.

For a few years the Christian Embassy “incident” was the cause célèbre of Mikey Weinstein and Chris Rodda, because they believed the US military had legitimized their crusade against Christians. In the ensuing years, though, the “criminals” they’d demanded be court-martialed like Gen Brooks have instead been promoted.

In response, Weinstein has apparently tried a new angle to avoid losing face. He is now claiming another Christian violator of regulations, General Bob Caslen, suddenly came around to his point of view, meaning Weinstein was able to support Gen Caslen’s promotion, rather than the court-martial he originally demanded.

In the end, it seems Weinstein doesn’t have the influence he has sometimes thought or claimed he did.

For everyone else, General Brooks’ promotions and positions serve as reminders that a Christian in the US military can succeed as both a Christian and as a Soldier — even to the point of being promoted to the highest rank of the US military and being described by the Secretary of Defense as the “very best.”

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