Army Will Punish Hasan’s Superiors

Various news outlets are reporting that the US Army has decided to punish military officers who expressed concern about Maj Nidal Malik Hasan’s behavior and officership — yet continued to give him glowing performance reports.

The Army announced…it will punish nine officers in connection with the Fort Hood shootings for “leadership failures relating to the career of Maj. Hasan.”

The Army statement indicates the officers may still get “due process” in responding to the “severity” of the action against them.

There may be a tragic irony in officers being punished for “failures” that led to Hasan’s conduct — when Hasan himself has yet to even be put on trial.  Most websites still say “alleged” with respect to Hasan, giving deference to the mantra of “innocent until proven guilty.”

The Military’s “Duty to Accommodate”

Mad Padre, a blogging Canadian military Chaplain, posted a link to an interesting article in The Maple Leaf, the Canadian military paper.  Entitled “Duty to accommodate in the CF,” the short article touches on the Canadian Forces’ policies on religious (and other) accommodation.

The article includes a picture of a Sikh Army officer.  The US Army has currently made few uniform exceptions for Sikhs within its ranks, both enlisted and officer.

MRFF Steps on Military Atheists’ Toes

Despite the often unified front of Michael Weinstein and his allies, it seems even his supporters are sometimes put off by his methods.

From Jason Torpy, at the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, referring to the USAFA invitation of USMC Lt (Ret) Clebe McClary to the National Prayer Luncheon:

[Recently] a sign promoting leadership based on religion was removed based on MAAF intervention and the understanding of [Air Force] Academy officials. Resolution was simple because of open dialogue.

The invitation to Clebe McClary, Read more

Can Atheist Rock Beyond Belief meet Army Restrictions?

The truth of the US Army’s equitable treatment of “Rock Beyond Belief” has already been addressed.  Oddly, though, many people don’t know that RBB may not be able to meet the restrictions imposed upon it by the Army even if it does find the funding it needs to proceed.

What restrictions are those?  Well, the same ones put on the Christian “Rock the Fort,” of course:  Content.

Unnoticed by many has been the fact Fort Bragg restricted the content at “Rock the Fort.”  As noted in the After Action Report:

The bands and speakers stayed within the parameters that we gave them as directed by LTG Helmick, Read more

Rock Beyond Belief: Funded by the Christian Collection Plate?

The question of equitable treatment of “Rock Beyond Belief” has already been addressed in general terms.  What follows below is a more in-depth discussion on some of the specifics of the “Rock Beyond Belief” controversy, including Affiliation, Attendance, Funding, and Content.  It will certainly be referenced for the MRFF case file (Chris Rodda has undoubtedly been waiting for this), and Fort Bragg may even take a peek at it; it’s here for all to see.

If you only have a few minutes, recommended reading is the section on Funding, though Content is also enlightening.

There’s one interesting qualifier:  At least two of the issues below, about which supporters of RBB are only now complaining, were known last year.  Guess who brought them up?  “Rock Beyond Belief”…

Affiliation: “Rock Beyond Belief” organizers Read more

Laser Eye Surgery Helping to Fulfill Pilot Dreams

The Air Force Times notes that the Air Force approval of vision-correcting laser eye surgery has allowed people who would otherwise have medically unqualified to become pilots.

Early on, the Air Force offered photorefractive keratectomy vision correction to a limited number of aviators. With this procedure, the surgeon uses a laser to remove skin cells from the surface of the eye before correcting the patient’s vision.

Over time, the program was extended to more airmen Read more

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