US Marines Talk Vaping, Pockets, Transgenders, and other Controversies

Update: It seems the US Marine Corps had some thoughts on these unusually frank articles.  While they are still posted at their links below, each has been edited to indicate it is an “editorial,” and all are now preceded by official disclaimers.


In an unusual media burst, the US Marines released six articles written by young enlisted troops on rather unusual topics — and generally critical of their own Marine Corps in unusually frank tones. Three of the six articles were uncredited, though they were all published through AFN-IJ (Iwakuni), and the three that had by-lines were all written by AFN-IJ staff members.

In the first, Corporal David Bickel wrote in favor of “Vaping in Government Facilities,” in which he criticized the ban on using nicotine vaporizers in government buildings, saying

The reasoning behind the rules against vaping in the barracks have [sic] little to no ground to stand on as well as little relevancy to the topic of tobacco smoking, which the government classifies as regular cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and vaporizers.

In the second, an uncredited troop sarcastically bragged that Read more

Pentagon Leads on Sexuality and Gender, Defers on Religion

When dozens of retired General Officers lobbied Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to lift restrictions on Sikhs serving in the US military, the DoD had a somewhat odd response [emphasis added]:

A Pentagon official speaking to Military.com on background said there is no Defense Department policy on Sikhsto review

The Defense Department issues standards that the individual services may interpret broadly and implement on their own, with no service bound by a decision made by another…

In essence, the DoD said it doesn’t have a policy preventing  Read more

Navy Chaplains Open Congress with Prayer

As part of the celebration of the 240th year of the Navy Chaplaincy, US Navy Chief of Chaplains (RAdm) Margaret Kibben and Chaplain of the Marine Corps (RAdm) Brent Scott opened the US House of Representatives and US Senate, respectively, with prayer on December 16th [emphasis added]:

During her prayer to open the session of the House of Representatives, Kibben acknowledged the “pastors, rabbis, priests and imams who over the course of 240 years have left the safety of their homes and the comfort of their pulpits to wear the cloth of this country’s Navy” and asked God’s help “to ensure the voices of faith are never silenced.”

In his prayer before the Senate, Scott thanked God for Read more

Cruz: All is Not Well in US Military

While many have claimed that the US military has been wholly unaffected by the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Senator and Presidential candidate Ted Cruz seems to have a different opinion:

Morale in the U.S. military has “plummeted” in recent years because President Barack Obama “doesn’t support our soldiers,” won’t even name the enemy “radical Islamic terrorism,” and is “more interested in promoting homosexuality in the military” than Read more

Humanists Appeal, Continue Attack on Bladensburg Cross

Following a Federal judge’s ruling against them a few weeks ago, the American Humanist Association has now filed an appeal of its lawsuit against the Bladensburg Peace Cross, a 90-year old World War I memorial in Maryland:

“The Bladensburg Cross is an enormous Christian symbol on government property and has the clear effect of endorsing religion,” said Monica Miller, senior counsel for the Appignani Humanist Legal Center. “We will continue defending the First Amendment rights of Read more

Like Mikey Weinstein, Wounded Warrior Project Criticized for Leader Pay

Rightly or wrongly, the Wounded Warrior Project tends to be loved or hated. Its critics blast its finances on several fronts, claiming, among other things, it excessively compensates its leadership compared to how much money goes back out to help wounded warriors. Using IRS 990s, Brandi Kay at Freedom Outpost recently noted the following numbers for 2013:

Revenue: $234,682,943
Steven Nardizzi, CEO: $375,000

That’s 0.16% of the revenue back to the CEO as compensation.

For comparison, for 2013 Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF numbers were  Read more

USAFA Football Prayers: A Lack of Moral Courage is Not Coercion

usafafootprayAmericans United for the Separation of Church and State recently joined in on the debate over US Air Force Academy football prayers by calling it an “incident” and a “problem.”

It seems even the AU’s Rob Boston didn’t think this was the issue Michael “Mikey” Weinstein was making it out to be:

I’ll admit that when I first read about this, I didn’t think it was a big deal. These are college students, I reasoned, not high schoolers. They could decline to take part if they don’t want to pray, right?

Boston then reconsiders, saying that because the games have mandatory attendance (in a long-running thorn in every cadet’s side, the cost of each ticket is deducted from their pay) and there is a military chain of command, it must be a “problem.” He cites Weinstein’s single email from a self-described USAFA football player:

He writes that there’s great pressure to participate in the joint prayer.

“If you don’t go along with it you are not going to be viewed as a good follower or teammate,” the anonymous player writes… “There are enough of us who feel pressured to conform and this is wrong…I mean virtually the whole team kneeling down and praying on the field in front of the crowds.”

There’s an important omission, however: The cadet never says he prayed Read more

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