Month: February 2010

Proposals for Huge Combat Pay, Small Annual Pay Raise

US Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-CA) has proposed increasing the amount of special military pays, most of which are directly related to combat deployments.  When US military members are deployed to combat areas, they receive several financial considerations:

  • Their military pay earned in the AOR is exempt from income taxes
  • They may be entitled to hostile fire pay, imminent danger pay, hazardous duty pay, and a family separation allowance.

Rep. McNerney’s proposal would make the following increases:  Read more

MRFF Threatens Trijicon with Legal Action

The notoriously blunt-speaking Michael Weinstein recently demonstrated an unusually thin skin when he threatened legal action against a potential critic of his organization.  The statement at issue occurred in the original ABC News article on the Trijicon gun sights:

Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.”

Apparently, the MRFF is offended by that characterization, though the MRFF isn’t explicitly named and the quote itself is paraphrased.  Weinstein’s organization took the unusual step of releasing its legal correspondence to an internet blogger, who quoted the following paragraph from a legal letter in response to the statement above:

Referring to the Foundation as a group which is “not Christian” is not only inaccurate and shamelessly false, but demonstrably contrary to fact. Approximately 96 percent of the Foundation’s nearly 16,000 active duty military clients and enumerable additional supporters are in fact practicing Christians by faith. To state otherwise not only slanders the Foundation, but also all of its clients. Further, the Foundation’s largest supporter is the California Council of Churches IMPACT, which is comprised of 5,500 Christian congregations, 21 distinct Christian denominations, and, directly and indirectly, millions of individual Christians.

The “legal letter” came from the same law firm that Weinstein is currently employing in Weinstein v Ammerman.

The stern rebuke from Weinstein’s MRFF is laughable.  Consider the ramifications Read more

In Defense of Religious Freedom

In several articles on this site, the premise has been repeated that true religious freedom is not the suppression of differing ideas, but the encouragement of them.  Sometimes this is a cautionary tale to Christians who feel that other religions should not have the same freedoms as Christians.  More often, however, it is a rebuttal to those who would silence or restrict Christians in order to avoid offense or exposure to a differing moral stance.

Hugh Hewitt has a similar explanation on his site, in his criticisms of those who criticized CBS for allowing Tim Tebow and his mother to air a “Celebrate Life” ad during the SuperBowl:

Most people of faith are strong proponents of religious liberty because they are very acquainted with the stories of religious persecution in almost every other part of the globe.  The answer to religious intolerance Read more

US Marines Bring Memorial Cross Home

As US forces continue to draw down their equipment and leave Iraq, there are some unique items that troops are having to deal with.

As bases were built and initial combat conducted, a variety of memorials began to surface as units looked for ways to remember the fallen.  Some bases have T-barriers painted with murals, and others have entire walls covered with the names of those who paid the ultimate price at their nation’s call.

PFC Oscar Martinez is one such Marine.  He was killed in a rocket attack on Camp Al Taqaddum in Iraq in 2004.  His unit made a 3 foot tall aluminum cross and placed it on the base in his memory–nearly six years ago.

USMC Photo (Cpl Bobbie Curtis)

USMC Photo (Cpl Bobbie Curtis)

Now that bases are closing and being turned over to the Iraqis, Read more

Russia Tests 5th Generation Fighter

Several news reports announced that Russia has tested a fighter intended to be in the class of the F-22. A picture in the Associated Press article published by Fox News shows the Russian T-50 with what is a fairly common Sukhoi profile (elongated fuselage and “goose neck” raised cockpit).  The aircraft appears to be twin-engine and twin-tail.

Oddly, fielding an aircraft that is supposed to rival the F-22 is a poor goal, since the Raptor is more than 20 years old. Skeptics said the T-50 was a pretty airframe with no notable avionics or even significantly updated engines.  Even more ironically, the Russian government is facing the same criticism as the US Defense Department did over the F-22:

“There is no mission and no adversary for such plane,” [Alexander] Konovalov [of the Institute of Strategic Assessment] said.

It would seem the challenges of defense technology and acquisition know no political boundaries.

The Chaplain and the Patron Saint of Paratroopers

In a personal blog, a Chaplain with the US Army Airborne notes the unique reception of Chaplains among the troops when they join Soldiers on their missions–or in this case, on their training jumps:

“Chaplain, you’re jumping with us today? OK, I know I’m not going to die.” This is what I heard from a Staff Sergeant when I showed up for work at 0430 for our first jump back into Division. On a Jump Day Paratrooper Chaplain scores some good “ministry of presence” points. I always pray for us following the Jump Brief and hand out a few of the Patron Saint of Paratrooper pendants, St. Michael the Arcangel [sic]. Coming off the drop zone, a new Trooper remarked to me that it was effective.

As Chaplain Paul Lynn demonstrates, US military Chaplains have an enormously important role (and positive impact) on the mission of the men and women they serve.

Read more at Worth My Salt.

The Rules are Written in Blood

Fighter aircraft are amazing combinations of machinery, technology, software, and the human mind.  Old and young alike are awed at airshows that display fighters from the Pursuit (P) aircraft of the World Wars to the Fighter (F) and Attack (A) aircraft of the modern era.

Miracles in motion that they are, they are still bound by rules and regulations.

They have simple rules like speed limits, g-limits, and angle of attack limits.  They also have more complex rules that say if you’re rolling left with a missile on the right wing and you’ve got half a tank of gas, make sure not to exceed 14 units of AoA.  Some rules seem arbitrary (“Don’t fly with your feet resting on the brake pedals…”), and others ridiculous (“Lower landing gear prior to touching down…”).

There’s a saying, though, that the rules of aviation Read more

Soldiers Learn Biblical History in Iraq

Many US military members have taken advantage of their unique access to Biblical history while they have been deployed to Iraq.  A recent US Army article reports on the visit by some US Soldiers to a traditional resting place of Abraham.  As with some other visits, a proactive Chaplain helped the Soldiers understand the history of the location.

[Chaplain] Capt. Michael T. Lanigan…has studied the Bible and the history of the site.

“Abraham’s oasis was one of the few stopping points that … according to the oral tradition of the Bedouins, was where Abraham and his family stopped before going on to Canaan, which is Jerusalem, the promised land, where God had called him,” said Lanigan…

The Soldiers recognize Read more

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