The Air Force Times profiles Chaplain (Capt) Sharior Rahman, who is one of two Islamic Chaplains in the US Air Force. (The other is Chaplain (Capt) Walid Habash; it is unclear what became of Chaplain (Capt) Abdulah Hamza Al-Mubarak, who was the Air Force’s first Islamic Chaplain and served at the Air Force Academy until a few years ago.)
Rahman serves at Lackland AFB — gateway for all enlisted recruits — and Read more
Bruce Fleming has had a long — and tumultuous — career as a professor of English at the US Naval Academy.
In 2009 he wrote an Op-Ed claiming the USNA inappropriately lowers its standards to increase its racial diversity, a claim he has made elsewhere. He claims he was denied a “standard” pay raise as a result. He filed a complaint which has now been settled “to the satisfaction of both parties,” according to the Academy.
Fleming has criticized the existence of the military institutions, complaining they create mediocre officers and “promulgate” a “conservative worldview” that includes “religion.” Despite such complaints, he seems content to take a paycheck from the Navy to teach there, as he has for more than Read more
Update: The House voted against the amendment.
Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-Minn) has reportedly submitted an amendment to the 2011 House budget bill (one of about 400) that would ban the military from sponsoring NASCAR drivers.
The National Guard sponsors Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team, the Army sponsors Ryan Newman, and the Air Force sponsors AJ Allmendinger, according to HamptonRoads.com.
“I would challenge the Pentagon to give me one example of someone today in Iraq or Afghanistan who saw the Go Army car going around Read more
The US Marine Corps’ newest attack aircraft, its armed KC-130J tanker/airlift aircraft, is reportedly flying sorties over Afghanistan:
The [KC-130] is the first of three airplanes with San Diego-based Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 to be fitted with the Harvest Hawk kit. The kit, designed as a roll-on/roll-off weapon system, includes a pod attached to the left wing that can carry four Hellfire missiles, Read more
Much to his father’s chagrin, a young Londoner managed to purchase a Harrier on sale from Jet Art Aviation Limited in Britain. It was simple: he just clicked the “buy it now” button on eBay.
Apparently, the seller understood and canceled the transaction when the father called to explain.
Just as well, really. The Harrier wouldn’t have fit in the garage next to his bike.
In a somewhat long but interesting article first published in the Jewish Exponent and republished by the Army, 1LT Avi Behar, a 23-year-old Army Lieutenant, recalls a day in Afghanistan in which he had an epiphany about religion and relationships both in the US military and the Afghan Army.
Earlier in the day, with the help of an Afghan General, his unit helped a local get his truck, overloaded with his produce, unstuck from the side of the road. Later, he came back to base to celebrate Chanukah:
Upon returning that night…our battalion chaplain put together a Chanukah service. We had discussed the idea a few days prior, but I wasn’t expecting what I was about to experience. Read more
In early February the US Army’s Global Assessment Tool was taken by its millionth Soldier. Presumably that includes the total force, as the Army has approximately 1.1 million Soldiers total, including Guard and Reserve.
As noted in the Army article,
This effort began in 2008 under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Rhonda L. Cornum…The CSF program is not medical or psychological treatment…
The GAT is a 105-question survey that assesses a Soldier in emotional, social, spiritual and family fitness. The GAT is not a pass or fail test, Read more
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi recently spoke to a group of 400 Chaplains and Chaplain Assistants at the National Guard Bureau’s 2011 Joint Chaplain Conference in Washington. She praised the Chaplains and lauded their roles in
The Chaplain Corps is one of the best tools to help fight the rise in military suicides, Pelosi said. Read more