Tag Archives: Military

US Army Removing Bible References from Gun Scopes

FoxNews reports on the continuation of a “scandal” from 2010:  Trijicon, the maker of the much-vaunted ACOG gun sight, was known for putting an abbreviated Bible verse reference on the end of its serial numbers.  Michael Weinstein found out, claimed that Islamic terrorists were offended when they were shot by rifles with these scopes, and demanded the Army remove them.  Trijicon ultimately offered to provide kits to remove the references.  (After threatening legal action against Trijicon, Weinstein also apparently implied his MRFF was a Christian organization…)

The Army now claims these inscriptions violated the terms of the contract:  Read more

US Navy Blesses the Fleet

While the US Air Force still only needs two digits to measure its age, the US Navy, or naval power in general, has been around for multiple centuries.  With that long history comes many centuries-old traditions, including the annual “Blessing of the Fleet.”  An official Navy article gives a quick note:

The Blessing of the Fleets ceremony is a centuries-old ceremony rooted in seafaring heritage around the world…

and then proceeds to focus on the “Year of Military Women.”

Another Navy site, a non-governmental organization that runs the US Navy Memorial that hosts the annual event, described the event this way:

The centuries-old “Blessing of the Fleets” ceremony is intended to safeguard crews and ships from the danger of the seas through a traditional blessing given by a clergyman Read more

SecDef Eliminates Controversial Drone Medal

After much controversy, the “Distinguished Warfare Medal,” which was purportedly designed to recognize those who contribute to the battlefront without being there, has been eliminated by the Secretary of Defense:

Just two months after its creation, Hagel said the Pentagon will replace the DWM with a device that can be attached to other previously existing medals.

The pejoratively-nicknamed “drone medal” was the subject of Read more

US Navy Names First Ship for Homosexual

Though the idea of a USS Harvey Milk — to be named for a homosexual activist — never left port, a few have already noted the US Navy just decided to name an upcoming ship for a homosexual:

Mabus named the future R/V Sally Ride (AGOR 28), which will be a Neil Armstrong-class AGOR ship, to honor the memory of Sally Ride, a professor, scientist and an innovator at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego.  Ride was the first woman and also the youngest person in space.  She later served as director of NASA’s Office of Exploration.

Following her death on 23 July 2012, Ride’s obituary was the first public Read more

The Transgender Push for Equality Begins

From the Huffington Post:

As the combat exclusion for women comes to an end and open service for gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans edges closer to truly equal service, it becomes more and more obvious that there is no longer any rational basis on which to bar qualified transgender people from serving in our armed forces…

If “valor knows no gender” …and if men and women really can be accommodated simultaneously under close combat conditions without a negative impact on war-fighting ability, then there is no reason other than prejudice for the transgender exclusion to remain.

The author, Allyson D. Robinson of the homosexual military advocacy group OutServe-SLDN, uses familiar phrases to justify his argument:  Read more

Congressman “Grills” SecDef over Christians in Military

US Rep Randy Forbes (R-Va) reportedly “grilled” relatively new Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel over

a steady stream of religious discrimination complaints over the past four years from Christian soldiers.

For his part, Secretary Hagel said he’d have to get back to the Congressman:

Hagel said he had no idea what the congressman was talking about.

“I don’t know about all the specifics of the information you presented,” he told the lawmaker. “I will get it. And I will find out about it.”

When asked if the DoD was enforcing section 533 of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Obama, Secretary Hagel again pled ignorance Read more

The Military as a Mission Field

A US Army article from Afghanistan covers the “Teach-Love-Care” aspect of the military chaplaincy.  Several chaplains are quoted discussing unique and interesting aspects of the chaplain field:

On exposure to varying religious beliefs in the military:

“As a civilian minister, I was very church oriented, always surrounded by Christians. There wasn’t much chance to go out and meet people of other beliefs,” said U.S. Army chaplain Capt. Soojin Chang, a Southern Baptist chaplain…”But in the Army, I don’t have to go out and search for these people. They come to me and we discuss about our belief. There is a mutual respect with each other.”

On troops openness to faith:  Read more

North Dakota Law Essentially Bans Abortion

Though it carries many exceptions, North Dakota recently passed a law that is so restrictive on abortion it in some regards essentially bans it:

Gov. Jack Dalrymple…signed into law…

— The earliest state abortion ban, one based on an unborn child’s heartbeat, which could be as soon as six weeks into gestation;

— The first state law to prohibit abortion on the basis of a genetic irregularity in the unborn baby.

That second note is specifically aimed at Read more

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