Army Chaplains Minister to Thousands in Basic Training

An Army article notes the importance of the military Chaplaincy to basic trainees at Fort Jackson:

Each Friday night, the 187th Ordnance Battalion classroom is filled with coffee, cookies, Bibles and smiling Soldiers. This weekly Fortress Coffeehouse service is one of the many ways that chaplains appeal to the needs of Soldiers-in-training at Fort Jackson.

The efforts by the Chaplains certainly seem appreciated by the Soldiers in training:

Pvt. Joshua Soiffer, Company A, 187th Ordnance Battalion, said that coffeehouse time is a comforting way to end a hard week.

“This is my fourth week here and I come to get away from life in the barracks, to spend time with fellow Soldiers and folks who love Jesus.”

Like the religious support teams in many locations, Chaplain (Capt) Jerry Wagner and his team work with volunteers Read more

Letter Suggests USAFA Dorm Tension after DADT Repeal

A letter to the editor at the Colorado Springs Gazette, the paper local to the US Air Force Academy, proposed an interesting conundrum following the repeal of the policy best known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:”

…Let’s consider the dilemma the Air Force Academy faces in assigning roommates now that homosexuals can serve openly. If everyone’s values and beliefs are considered, as they should be, they will need to consider the heterosexual’s values, too.

Roommates with conflicting sexual preferences will encounter unhealthy and unfair sexual tension. If two homosexuals are roomed together, this is clearly a sexual-preference bias equalized only if men and women were allowed to room together, too, which the cadets would cheer.  Read more

Marines Honor Fallen Jewish Heroes

Chaplain (COL) Jacob Goldstein and General Robert Magnus, USMC Retired, former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, recently gathered with 50 Marines at the Jewish Center in Manhattan to honor fallen Jews in the US military service.

“In front of the Torah, we pay tribute to those who served our country,” said Rabbi Yosie Levine of the Jewish Center, in Manhattan, which hosted the May 30 Jewish Community Memorial Day Event, “An Appreciation of America’s Service Members.” With a U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard on the bimah, Levine told the guests: “Each Shabbat we pray and say todah [thank you]…May God bless America.”

General Magnus was a former helo pilot who carried the callsign “Heeb” for more than 30 years.

The Memorial Day event was steeped in Jewish ceremony Read more

Join the Air Force. See the Business End of a Toilet.

Not every Air Force (or military) job is glamorous.  For example, some military members are deployed to combat areas for one purpose:  To escort the third country nationals who drive the sewage truck that empties the latrines, otherwise known as the “sewage” sucker, though most people use another “s” word.

Along those lines, the Air Force Times notes the story of Senior Airman Michael Waite.  His job?  Aircraft lavatory service.

The job works like this: Waite drives up to an aircraft with his lavatory service truck, better known on base as the SWAT (S—, Water and Trash) truck. A hose is hooked up to a valve on the craft and the human waste Read more

Fort Hood Freedom Fest Headliner Offends?

Fort Hood recently hosted its “Freedom Fest.”  No, not the Fort Bragg atheist event that temporarily used the same name; this was the Independence Day celebration.  By all accounts it was a rousing success.  Due to fire bans across Texas, Fort Hood had one of the only fireworks displays in the region.  Around 100,000 were expected to have attended.

In the past, some have taken issue with the US military having “Christian” musicians or bands at similar events.  Apparently, they are concerned about exposing troops and their families to edifying or God-honoring lyrics.

Few people seem to have any problem when the opposite is the case.  The musical act at Fort Hood’s Freedom Fest was Read more

Obama Appoints Homosexual Veteran to West Point Board

The Wall Street Journal noted President Barack Obama appointed openly homosexual Army veteran Brenda “Sue” Fulton to the US Military Academy (West Point) Advisory Board.

Fulton is USMA Class of 1980, the first West Point class to include women. She is also part of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, an activist organization toward DADT repeal.  Another member of the “forum,” retired Navy Chaplain (CAPT) John Gundlach, recently called military members’ religious opposition to repeal “bigotry.”

The WSJ notes her appointment puts  Read more

USS Enterprise Chaplain: “See God in Me”

Chaplain (LtCmdr) Fred Holcombe Jr is one of four Chaplains aboard the USS Enterprise, the US Navy’s oldest and most storied nuclear aircraft carrier.  An article at the Baptist Press notes the unique nature of ministry at sea:

“The old saying on a ship is that every day is Monday except Sunday,” Holcombe said. “On Sundays, we obviously have church. In fact, we have many, many different services go on each Sunday.”

The majority of Holcombe’s time is spent in his primary ministry — Read more

Fort Hood-Inspired Plotters Jailed, Indicted

In a fairly under-covered foiled terrorist attack, the Associated Press notes Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, and Walli Mujahidh, also known as Frederick Domingue Jr., have both been jailed pending their trials for planning an attack on a Seattle military recruiting station.

The two were arrested June 22 in an FBI sting after they arrived at a warehouse garage to pick up machine guns Read more

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