Yet Another General Officer Endorses Non-Federal Charity

Michael Weinstein will no doubt be up in arms again.  Just days after he excoriated MajGen Marty Umbarger for his September 2011 video favoring a military support charity, it seems another General officer has done a similar thing.  The self-appointed watchdog for endorsements of non-Federal entities by uniformed officers will likely be enraged.

Brigadier General Loree Sutton appears in a video on the website of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is clearly a charity and non-Federal entity.  The “problem,” if there is one, is Gen Sutton sings the praises of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence and its facilities, which were funded and built entirely by the charity Read more

Military Death Sentence Overturned, and its Implications on Hasan

The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned the death penalty sentence of former Marine Lance Cpl. Kenneth G. Parker:

The court threw out Parker’s conviction for one of the two murders and reassessed his sentence for the other crime. The decision continues a trend of military death sentences being overturned on appeal — 11 out of 16 death sentences since 1984. The last military execution occurred in 1961.

Parker’s crime occurred in 1992.

The ruling was made  Read more

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Helps Artillerymen

While much of the public focus of the US Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness has been on spiritual fitness, an artillery unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord was able to see a different angle to the Army’s effort to “boost performance” of Soldiers and their families:

CSF-PREP’s mission is twofold: helping Soldiers perform with greater ease and less stress, and enabling them to prevail in the face of adversity. The program focuses on making Soldiers and their families stronger Read more

Helo Pilot Cites God for Surviving Shootdown

A local paper (repeated at the Stars and Stripes) carries the story of Vietnam veteran and former Marine Capt Boyd “Bo” Barclay, a helicopter pilot brought down by small arms fire on 8 June 1967:

“The next burst came through the cockpit and hit me in the hand, blew my hand up and I didn’t see any hand there,” he recalled. “And I said, ‘I’m hit!’”

He reached over to grab a pressure point and the next thing he heard the pilot say is, “I’m dead. I’m dead.” He turned and looked at the pilot who was hanging in his straps…

Barclay and two of his crewmembers survived, and Barclay credits God Read more

Marine General Says Ramadan Fast Prompted Afghan Betrayals

General John Allen has publicly stated that the ‘stress’ of the Islamicly mandated Ramadan fast — which occurred during the heat of the summer this year — contributed to the increase in “insider” attacks by supposed Afghan allies on international (predominantly American) troops:

Gen. John R. Allen, said…that while the reasons for the killings are not fully understood, the effect of Ramadan fasting is likely among the causes.

“The idea that they will fast during the day places great strain on them,” Allen said, adding that the stress Read more

US Marine Serves God and Country

A US military press release highlights Marine Lance Cpl Malike Mejdouli, a “devout Muslim” who fasted even while in combat in Afghanistan.  It was not without impact:

“You just have to deal with it,” said Mejdouli about practicing his faith. “I was sick for like five days out here while fasting, throwing up and everything.”

In many discussions on Islam, soldiers are generally exempt from fasting.  Mejdouli notes he couldn’t fast last year because he was in basic training.  USAFA cadets Read more

Family Research Council Cites ChristianFighterPilot.com

Just a short time after a gunman fired on a security guard at The Family Research Council building in Washington, DC — apparently because he ‘didn’t like their politics’ — the FRC and the Liberty Institute published The Survey of Religious Hostility in America (PDF, 2MB).  The Survey is 135 pages covering “more than 600 recent examples of religious hostility” detailing “religious bigotry throughout America.”  The paper includes not just independent government action, but moves by citizens to use the government to take action “hostile” toward religion.

America today would be unrecognizable to our Founders. Our first freedom is facing a relentless onslaught from well-funded and aggressive groups and individuals who are using the courts, Congress, and the vast federal bureaucracy to suppress and limit religious freedom. This radicalized minority is driven by an anti-religious ideology that is turning the First Amendment upside down.

Naturally, the report covers perceptions of religious hostility in the US military, with which they included this citation of ChristianFighterPilot.com:  Read more

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