Month: April 2010

Military Religion Question Answered: Beliefs, Part 2

The last Military Religion Question of the Day asked if a military Chaplain’s article about God’s provision was correctly characterized by a critic:

The…Chaplain writes about why women were created (as an afterthought to keep men from being lonely), marriage as a Christian institution, and segues to a blatant Jesus salvation pitch.

The critic did not directly accuse the Chaplain of wrongdoing.  Instead, he appears to be holding the Chaplain’s beliefs up for ridicule.  Is the mockery justified?

The critic’s interpretation of the Chaplain’s description of “why women were created” Read more

USAFA Cadets Give SecDef The Bird

Many distinguished (and some undistinguished) speakers come to the US Air Force Academy to speak to the cadet wing.  Sometimes these speeches are done during a military training period within the school day; others are delivered in the evening.

A time-honored tradition at the US Air Force Academy is the presentation to those speakers (most, but not all) with a statuette of the USAFA mascot, the falcon.  After the speaker concludes their remarks, a cadet leader enters the stage and thanks the speaker for their wise words.  As he holds the statuette aloft, he then says that on behalf of the cadet wing, he would like to present the speaker with…

…and the entire wing shouts out: The Bird!

It is an interesting and entertaining example of both stereotypical  Read more

Chaplain’s “Changing of the Stole” in Iraq

A “change of command” is a process in which a military unit publicly sees its leadership change from one person to another.  The 1st Infantry Division, or “Big Red One,” recently saw a “time honored tradition” in a similar ceremony when a new division Chaplain assumed his duties.

Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Timothy Mallard, division chaplain for the 1st Inf. Div., donned the stole, which bears the names of the head chaplains for the division since the Balkans.

The changing of the stole ceremony is based on the Old Testament Read more

Commander Helps Troops’ Religious Celebration

The recent religious “high holidays” highlighted US military efforts to accommodate the faiths of those within its ranks.

Two important perspectives were recently expressed in reaction to the celebration of Passover in Iraq by US servicemembers.  First, from a young celebrant:

“It’s a big deal for morale, especially for Jewish Soldiers,” said Jason Kocsis [of the] Louisiana National Guard. “To be able to get together with other Soldiers of the Jewish faith and share what you normally share back at home with family, it gives you more of a taste of home and what we have to look forward to.” (emphasis added)

Second, from a senior officer who is not only a celebrant, but also a commander:

“The Army and these Soldiers are a part of our extended family during war-time,” said Lt. Col. Mednick, who is in charge of all aviation operations in the [northern] area of operations…”It’s very important to not spend this holiday alone and I’m proud to provide that culture for these Soldiers.” (emphasis added)

Finally, it is also important to note the military supports the religious exercise Read more

Navy Seal, Now Army Chaplain, Ministers in Iraq

US Army Chaplain (Capt) Geoffrey Whitaker, the garrison Chaplain at COB Marez, Iraq, took a unique path to the Chaplaincy.  He was originally a Navy SEAL; in 2003, he fell during a helicopter speed rope and crushed his skull.  Doctors gave him a 10% chance of survival, with far less a chance he’d ever recover.

He rejoined his SEALs within 12 months.

He said he owes his recovery to the thousands of people praying for him around the world.  Read more

Buddhist Services at Camp Leatherneck

The US Navy’s only Buddhist Chaplain is currently deployed to Afghanistan.  She recently posted a short blog celebrating Buddha’s birth and noting the attendance of local Marines at the service.

As noted here often, the US military protects religious freedom of its servicemembers, even when that religious freedom may be contrary or offensive to locals or America’s adversaries.  While some often connect such offense with Christianity, it was just a few years ago that the Taliban ordered the destruction of “false idol” statues of Buddha in Afghanistan–which had stood for 1,500 years.

F-16 Triggers Airliner Alarm

A few articles recently described how a formation of US Air Force F-16s

came so close to a commercial flight over the US this week that they triggered a cockpit alarm in the commuter plane

The incident was later described in this way:

The commercial plane “encountered two F-16s and they had a near-miss incident,” [Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony] Molinaro said.

While the term “near miss” in FAA parlance bodes ill, the incident is rarely as dramatic as it sounds.

While the reports don’t say how close the aircraft Read more

Air Force to Launch X-37B

The US military hasn’t completely abandoned experimental (and classified) missions, as evidenced by the announced April 19 launch of the X-37B, an orbital test vehicle.  The vehicle appears to be a winged reusable vehicle with traditional landing gear.  Commentators are somewhat confused as to its ultimate purpose, lending support to the theories it will support classified missions, as well as a variety of Air Force experimental operations.

The X-37B has been in development for years (and was even originally scheduled for a 2008 launch).  Various reports indicated that the unmanned vehicle might be intended to stay in orbit for up to 9 months before conducting its own re-entry and landing.

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