Professor Sues US Naval Academy

Bruce Fleming, a civilian English professor at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was denied a pay raise due to an unjust reprimand he received in 2014:

Attorneys for Bruce Fleming said Thursday that the professor was denied merit pay and $7,000 in summer funding based on a 2014 reprimand. It stemmed from a 2013 classroom discussion, when Fleming prompted his students to consider the academy’s sexual assault program and the potentially one-sided burdens it put on men, at a time when the academy was part of the national debate over how to stop sexual assault in the military.

Fleming asserts his words were protected under the Constitution. For its part, Annapolis Read more

Former USAF Commander Predicts Exodus of Integrity, Courage

Tony Carr, a retired USAF Squadron Commander who is now a frequent public critic of the Air Force, wrote a piece on his John Q. Public blog excoriating Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh for the Air Force’s “new” attitude toward privacy. Carr quotes what he describes as the objectionable portion of Gen Welsh’s statement [emphasis added]:

We’ve captured the Air Force’s culture and standards in AFI 1-1. We all know 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on and off-duty, Airmen have signed up to live up to Air Force Standards and Core Values. Through all the different ways in which Airmen communicate and interact, respect and dignity are essential. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in person, by text, twitter, or the latest social media app, we are all personally accountable for what we say and post.

Carr objects to the implication that the Air Force will hold Airmen accountable for everything they say, even privately, with the only standard being vague Read more

Christians in Camouflage: The PC Minefield

Alan Dowd at byFaith, a production of the Presbyterian Church in America, writes a fairly thorough and balanced article on the state of religious liberty in the US military entitled “Christians in Camouflage: Chaplains in a Political Correctness Minefield.” After summarizing some of the more well-known “scandals” regarding military religious freedom, Dowd says [emphasis added]:

While some contend that one man’s evangelizing is another’s proselytizing, there’s more than a semantic difference here: Proselytizing carries a connotation of recruiting and pressuring, whereas evangelizing — rooted in the Greek for “bringing good news” — carries a connotation of sharing and inviting.

Christians — whether on the battlefront or the homefront — are called Read more

ACLJ Details Support for Military Religious Freedom

The ACLJ recently posted an appeal for support that listed recent cases of military religious freedom, and they set themselves up as the foil to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF in the process. Speaking of their support for court-martialed US Marine Monifa Sterling [emphasis added]:

Angry atheist Mikey Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) also filed a brief asking the court to reject Sterling’s appeal and ignore the violation of her religious freedom. (Remember it is Mikey Weinstein and his extremist group that has repeatedly called Christians in the military “monsters who terrorize.”)

Regarding a recent FOIA lawsuit Weinstein filed against the US Air Force Academy [italics original, emphasis added]:  Read more

Memorial Replaced after Secularist Complaint

In Knoxville, Iowa, a silhouette of a soldier kneeling at a cross-shaped headstone (previously discussed) was replaced with a bronze battlefield cross after Americans United for the Separation of Church and State complained.

Sponsored by the local AMVETS Post 63, the monument was erected by Don Zoutte, who intended it to recall the iconic picture of the headstones of Normandy — not to establish a state religion:

Zoutte says he hopes the new memorial will put to bed all of the controversy that has surrounded the community over the current memorial that’s there. “It was never, ever, ever meant Read more

Mikey Weinstein Rapidly Responds to ChristianFighterPilot.com

Update: As expected, Weinstein has expanded his attacks to other “crusader” imagery in the military, though unlike the sign below, the US Army has not responded to Weinstein’s demands.

It was a test, and Michael “Mikey” Weinstein passed with flying colors.

Yesterday’s article on Weinstein and ISIS included a gratuitous picture of a sign in front of the 8th Special Troops Battalion Warrior Training Center in Fort Shafter, Hawaii:

The context was Weinstein’s obsession with the hurt feelings of Islamic extremists — including his claim that they’re motivated to attack the United States because of Crusader imagery.

Mikey did not disappoint.

The sign was erected on a remote portion of the base “far from most of the installation’s foot or motor traffic,” and it had been on the internet for a couple of weeks.

But within just a few hours of the article going up at ChristianFighterPilot.com, Weinstein sent a “demand email” to Major General Edward Dorman claiming Read more

Generals Call on US Military to Allow Sikhs to Serve

A coalition of 27 retired General officers signed a letter (PDF) urging the US Department of Defense to allow Sikhs to serve in the US military. Currently, Sikhs must abandon the articles of their faith — including uncut hair, beards, and turbans — before they can join the military:

Although Sikhs have served honorably in the U.S. military since World War I, restrictive appearance regulations adopted in 1981 created barriers to their service. Revisions earlier this year to DOD Instruction 1300.17 make it possible for service members to request religious accommodations; however, the new guidelines presumptively exclude Sikh articles of faith, forcing Sikhs to repeatedly apply for waivers and even violate their religion while an accommodation request is pending.

One of the notable signatures on the letter is Read more

US Fight Against ISIS: Military Bible Sticks in Demand

With the 101st Airborne Division deploying soon in the fight against ISIS, Faith Comes by Hearing is now ramping up to support their chaplain’s request for their mp3 player Bible Stick:

As the War on ISIS escalates, Troy Carl with Faith Comes by Hearing says a chaplain at the 101st Airborne has requested 10,000 Military Bible Sticks – the digital audio player designed specifically for deployed troops. Carl tells OneNewsNow monetary donations are needed to fulfill this request.

The request appears to be for the Division in general, though it seems only the Division HQ is actually deploying — for the time being.  Read more

1 … 138 139 140 141 142 … 608