Month: July 2010

Civilian Ejects from Fighter Aircraft

The US Navy has reported that a pilot successfully ejected from an A-4 Skyhawk at Fallon Naval Air Station.  The A-4 was owned by Airborne Tactical Advantage Co and flown by a civilian contract pilot.  The company was apparently on contract to provide Red Air for Naval aviator training at Fallon.

While civilian organizations flying military fighter aircraft are relatively rare (and they are often owned and/or composed almost entirely of former military members), there are a surprising number of civilian “fighter pilots” flying fighter aircraft either in or in support of the US military.

Alleged Wikileaks Source was Lonely, Angry…Humanist

The Defense Department has announced that 22 year old US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning has had “charges preferred” alleging multiple counts of improperly handling classified information.  According to prior reports, Manning admitted in internet chat rooms that he distributed the helicopter gunship video dubbed “collateral murder” as well as thousands of other secret files.

In an apparent attempt to humanize Manning, the Associated Press noted his “outcast” status among his peers:

With his custom-made “humanist” dog tags and distrust of authority, Bradley Manning was no conventional soldier.  Read more

Military Distributes DADT Survey

According to an official release, the Department of Defense distributed 400,000 emailed surveys yesterday to military members on the topic of the implementation of the repeal of the policy most commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Half of the surveys went to active-duty servicemembers, and half were sent to the reserve components. Troops who received the surveys were selected based on age, rank, service, component, military specialties, education, marital status and other factors to ensure broad and thorough feedback on a potential repeal, Ham said.

The Military Times said the actual questions were “under wraps,” but the survey  Read more

Catholic Prelate Asks Congress to Keep Ban on Military Abortions

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo is chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the US Bishop’s conference has asked Congress not to approve language in the Defense Authorization Act that would permit US military facilities to conduct abortions.

The Cardinal noted that federal policies have prohibited military facilities from performing abortions since 1988, with the exception of 1993-1995 when Clinton overturned the policy (it was later re-instituted by Congress).

The Cardinal joined with military diocese Archbishop Broglio Read more

The Authentic Witness of the Soldier Christian

Col (Dr) Don Snider (USA, Ret) has a well thought-out article on the Christian military witness at Journal of Faith and War.  He notes the complexity of the issue with a single opening phrase:

There are no formulas, Christ only said: “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.”

His points fall under the following categories:

Mastering the Context
“…you are not to compartment your life and its varied roles (supposing that you actually could do so psychologically which is, of course, quite debatable). You may not choose to be a Soldier leader in some settings and a Christian in others.” 

“You are, in addition, free to witness appropriately to your faith, Read more

Wall Street Journal Highlights Faith in Battle

A frontpage photo on the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago highlighted the presence of faith even in the struggle of war.  From the caption:

RESCUE AND PROTECT: Staff Sgt. Edward Rosa reads the Bible and extends a cigarette to Pfc. Jorge Rostra Obando, who was stunned by an explosion in Afghanistan’s Arghanab Valley. One comrade was killed and two injured in the blast. Pfc. Rostran asked the sergeant to read Psalm 91, a favorite from his childhood. (Ricardo Garcia Vilanova for The Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal photo

Wall Street Journal photo

In the comments on the WSJ site, a poster who said he was Obando’s father chimed in with pride for his son’s faith; someone who said they were a Gideon even pointed out the fact it was a freely distributed (and well worn) Gideon Bible the two Soldiers were sharing.

Of course, some organizations have demanded that the military “close their doors” to the Gideons, and the publication of the photo brought out similar detractors:  Read more

Michael Weinstein: Christian Bigotry “Can Lead to Genocide”

In a vaguely related article that purports to highlight potentially “false” converts from radical Islam, the author quotes the MRFF’s Michael Weinstein in a provocative statement:

With the U.S. engaged in active combat in the heart of the Islamic world, Weinstein believes Christian fundamentalists in the U.S. military are actively promoting terrorists-turned-Christians — with potentially deadly consequences.

“These guys are spewing Islamophobic hatred, and the Pentagon laps it up. This is the kind of prejudice and bigotry that can lead to genocide,” said Weinstein.

So Weinstein is suggesting that someone — American military Christians? the Pentagon? — is leading the way to “genocide?”  Weinstein leaves no clue as to how he jumped to such a melodramatic conclusion (though perhaps he believes it will be committed by the “shadow government” the MRFF believes is actually running the country).  Insane conspiracy theory though it is, it isn’t the first time he has made the accusation.  From 2007:

In Plan A, evangelical Christians with a smile on their face will ask you to please, please, please accept their biblical worldview of Jesus. The problem with that is, inevitably, Plan A morphs into Plan B. They stop asking so nicely, and then you have the Holocaust, Read more

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