Aviano Starts Gender-Specific Spouse Group

While “spouse groups” in the Air Force are technically gender-neutral, the fact remains they are often perceived as re-labeled “wives groups.” They are made up almost exclusively of women who are married to male military members. That leaves male spouses as a potentially underserved minority.

A male spouse at Aviano experienced the results of that long “history”:

Spouses are often assumed to be women and at a commander’s convention with his wife, Lt. Col. Rosie Duarte, the 31st Force Support Squadron commander, there was no exception. When spouses received their gift at the end of the event, [John] Duarte got what every spouse did — a broach.

Duarte decided to found a new group — which is explicitly male. He Read more

Too Few Atheists Buried at Normandy? (Video)

Are there too few atheists buried at Normandy?

It’s an interesting way to phrase the complaints about crosses and Stars of David when they pertain to representations of the iconic cemeteries of American soldiers in Europe.

Quoted in a Washington Times article by Valerie Richardson entitled “Anti-religion group gripes about lack of atheists buried at Normandy,” Sam Grover of the Freedom from Religion Foundation had this to say:

“It is unfortunate that the iconic headstones at the Normandy cemetery do such a poor Read more

AF Band Flash Mobs Smithsonian with Christmas Songs (Video)

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary.

Continuing a tradition begun last year, the US Air Force Band “flash mobbed” the Smithsonian and performed What Child is This? and Carol of the Bells, to the delight of the crowd:

The Air Force Times Flightlines blog noted that the official Air Force Band website said the first song was Greensleeves.  While Greensleeves is the same tune as What Child is This?, the vocalists were clearly singing the lyrics to the latter.

Military members can Read more

USAF F-16 Pilot Killed in Crash in Middle East

The Air Force announced Tuesday that Capt William DuBois was killed when his F-16 crashed “in the Middle East” in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.  Officially, the crash was declared not combat related and was said not to have occurred in Iraq or Syria.  CNN reported it occurred in Jordan.

As with all such incidents, the Air Force will investigate the cause.  The crash follows another recent fatal crash out of Tyndall AFB just last month.

Also at FoxNews and AF.mil.
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Chaplains Serve All during Ebola Deployment

US Soldiers deployed in support of Operation United Assistance (deployment to Africa in response to the Ebola outbreak) have many of the same — if not more — logistical challenges as those deployed further downrange. Chaplain (LtCol) David Bowlus described conducting outdoor worship services in Monrovia, Liberia, as the chapel tent ended up being requisitioned to house other Soldiers.

The article on the chaplains in Africa noted they are Read more

Mikey Weinstein Worries about Christian ISIS

As described in the Digital Journal:

Mikey Weinstein, an Air Force Academy graduate, is worried that radical Christians pose the same kind of threat ISIS does in the Middle East…

Weinstein routinely uses over-the-top language to describe Christians, partially to gain attention and partially to coat-tail the topic du jour, so associating US military Christians with ISIS is par for the course.

Further [emphasis added]:

Many in the military believe their No. 1 duty is destroy anyone who opposes Christianity, Weinstein says.

It’s a good thing conspiracy theories are, by definition, unprovable.  It saves Weinstein the trouble of having to support his wild accusations with those pesky things called “facts.”

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US Air Force Revises Religious Guidelines

As previously noted, the Air Force has published a revision to its AFI 1-1, “Air Force Standards,” which alters the wording and tone on how the service views religious liberty and expression.  The new AFI can be found here (PDF).

The greatest sources of consternation were paragraphs 2.11 and 2.12, and that’s where the Air Force made its revisions. In one notable change, the topics of 2.11 and 2.12 have been reversed: The Air Force now talks about religious freedom and expression before it talks about restrictions and the Establishment clause. While that may seem insignificant to some, it is noteworthy for the tone of the regulation.

The most significant change to the AFI — in direct response to laws passed by Congress — also marks its most dramatic explicit statement. The new regulation now says [emphasis added]:

Every Airman also has the right to individual expressions of sincerely held beliefs, to include conscience, moral principles or religious beliefs, unless those expressions would have an adverse impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, good order, discipline, health and safety, or mission accomplishment.

Every Airman has the right to express their religious beliefs.  Further, Read more

Congressional Hearing on Military Religious Freedom, Hostility

As previously noted, the House Armed Services subcommittee on personnel invited five civilian witnesses to provide testimony on the state of religious freedom in the US military last Wednesday.

Attending were:

  • Michael Berry, Liberty Institute attorney who acted on behalf of cadets at the US Air Force Academy this year
  • Retired Chaplain (Col) Ron Crews, an outspoken advocate for military religious freedom
  • Travis Weber, Director of the Family Research Council’s Center for Religious Liberty, US Naval Academy graduate and former Naval aviator.
  • Rabbi Bruce Kahn, a retired Navy Captain and Chaplain, a founding member of the Equal Rights Center, and an advocate for homosexual “rights.”
  • Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, founder and sole employee of his Military Religious Freedom Foundation, engaged in a self-described “war” against Christians in the US military.

Contrary to some predictions, it wasn’t really a contentious meeting. What the hearing did reveal was the committee members were Read more

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