Month: April 2009

Military Chaplains in High Demand

There has long been a shortage in Chaplains in the Guard and reserve, as previously noted.  The Stars and Stripes notes that reservists are currently in high demand, as they are activated to fill posts of Chaplains who are deployed downrange.

Said one such Chaplain, who had been activated multiple times over the past decades:

“[The soldiers] sought reassurance that they were there for the right purposes. A lot of them had religious questions about God — ‘What does God think about this?’ People wanted to be baptized. There are no atheists or agnostics in foxholes.”

Chaplains in Battle

The Baptist Press notes the story of Chaplain (Col) James White of the 10th Mountain Division,  

Fine sand and blinding dust swirled across the Iraqi desert, providing cover for U.S. Army soldiers to advance deeper into enemy terrain. The lead Humvee inched cautiously forward. The soldiers on point radioed to a support group behind them — and asked for a chaplain…

“We’re scared,” the soldiers told Chaplain White when he joined them. “Could you take a few minutes to pray with us?”  “We all knelt there in the sand and prayed,” said White…

Heading back to the support unit, White awaited the impending battle…[The soldiers] drove slowly forward — and suddenly met a Russian-built T-72 tank. The battle was on.

Chaplains serve a vital–and unique–role in our nation’s armed forces.

Colonel Cleared in Email Controversy

As noted at the Stars and Stripes, Col Kimberly Toney was cleared in the 3rd Air Force investigation of her email that linked to a video with religious content (hosted on a website with content allegedly hostile to the President) (previous discussion).

From the article:

“After a thorough consideration of the facts, the Third Air Force has concluded Colonel Toney acted inadvertently and unintentionally and did not willfully violate Air Force policy or (Equal Employment Opportunity) guidelines,” said Lt. Col. Dave Honchul, 3rd Air Force’s director of public affairs.

Notably, the article also notes that the Air Force received no complaints from servicemembers or civilians over the email.

Military Religious Freedom: The Torah in Iraq

The Air Force news published articles and pictures (see below the fold) of a Torah dedication ceremony in Balad, Iraq, on March 23rd, as well as the accompanying adult Bar Mitzvah of an enlisted Airmen.

Contrary to some assertions, such public displays of faith do not demonstrate an institutional favoritism of a religion (in this case, Judaism) by the military or by the government.  Such expressions–even in a region of the world that has elements hostile to both Judaism and America–are not only permitted but also encouraged, just as the free exercise of other faiths is also supported.

Such displays are also wholly permissible in uniform, as these Airmen were.  The Airmen wore yarmulkes Read more

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