In an unusual official article, Air Force Public Affairs documents the interesting hobby of Capt Stan Maczek, resident ghost hunter.
[Maczek is] not sure what to call himself — ghost hunter, spirit seeker, paranormal investigator — but he’s sure this is the most exciting hobby he’s discovered yet… Read more
The famous Basic Training-issued BCGs, once the brown-rimmed, awkward-looking but sturdily-built hallmark of basic trainees, are officially dead.
Military recruits who wear glasses no longer will have to endure the embarrassment of sporting BCGs — those beloved standard-issue specs, technically called S9s, which are universally known as “Birth Control Glasses” because they’re supposedly so unattractive.
Yet another “tradition” falls to progress…
US Representative Randy Forbes (R-Va) has written a letter (PDF) signed by 35 members of the House asking the Air Force restore a unit’s motto that was changed after an atheist’s complaint. 
The incident to which Rep Forbes is referring was actually first reported on ChristianFighterPilot.com, with the Religion Clause and the ADF Alliance Alert subsequently citing this site.
As noted three weeks ago, the USAF Rapid Capabilities Office responded to “needling” from former Army Captain Jason Torpy, an atheist, and changed its motto from “Doing God’s work with other people’s money” to “Doing miracles with other people’s money.”
The letter, addressed to Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz, says:
It has come to our attention that the US Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) has modified the logo on its official patch to remove its reference to “God,” following a complaint from Read more
Antonio Martinez has pled guilty to attempting to blow up a Baltimore military recruiting center in 2010. The FBI went as far as to provide Martinez a fake bomb which he tried to detonate. He had originally pled not guilty, but reversed his plea and faces a 25-year sentence.
Though only vaguely referenced in the Associated Press article on the plea, Martinez was reportedly motivated by his “extremist” Islamic views. He was one Read more
A US Army article notes Fort Campbell soldier Staff Sgt Jonathan Welch was presented the Honorable Order of Saint Martin by Col. Michael Peterman, the commander of 101st Sustainment Brigade.
The Order of Saint Martin recognizes Quartermasters, either Active Duty, Reserves, or civilian who have made significant contributions to the Quartermaster Corps, states the US Army Quartermaster Foundation.
“I am extremely flattered to receive this award,” said Welch. “For a logistician, this is great privilege. It is also an honor to have had Col. Peterman present this award to me. ”
Interestingly, the article fails to note the history of the medal — or why it is named after Saint Martin: Read more
As noted previously, the US Air Force has proposed cutting a large number of A-10s from the inventory in response to the reduced Department of Defense budget.
An article at AOL Defense notes this isn’t the first time this has been proposed, and the author starts to rattle off the reasons people think the A-10 Thunderbolt II (better known as Warthog) is so great:
Two things make the A-10 especially fine at CAS: its amazing 30mm cannon which can destroy a tank with ease; and the Read more
In what appears to be a site-wide revamping, Rock Beyond Belief — the atheist counter-event to the Christian Rock the Fort — has dropped the controversial Aiden song that recently caused a media firestorm from its website. The YouTube video was originally called an “atheist anthem” and was the only introduction to the band on the site, though after FoxNews highlighted it organizer Justin Griffith said they would not be performing that particular song.
Also absent is the plea for civilians (“as many people as possible”) to come to the event. A recent article quoted Justin Griffith saying he “counts about 100” atheists at Fort Bragg, meaning he is likely relying on the event to draw far more civilians than members of the military. For a rough comparison, the Fort Bragg chapels host about 2,000 congregants in 17 services every week (both Christian and not); the Christian Rock the Fort had an estimated attendance of 3-4,000.
In another interesting twist, a revealing but obscure comment was made by a pseudonymed military officer presenting himself as part of Rock Beyond Belief Read more
Despite being in a combat zone on the other side of the world from home, the US military facilitated servicemembers’ participation in the National Prayer Breakfast. Retired US Army Colonel Danny McKnight was invited to speak at 12 different locations in the country. McKnight is famous for his role in Somalia in 1993 — in what the rest of the world now knows as Blackhawk Down.
Col Danny McKnight and his Hollywood alter-ego, Tom Sizemore
National Prayer Breakfast is an annual interfaith tradition started in 1953 by members of U.S. Congress to get Read more