Tag Archives: Military

President Declares Days of Prayer and Remembrance

As has become tradition, President Obama declared this past weekend leading up to September 11th “days of prayer and remembrance:”

I ask that the people of the United States honor and remember the victims of September 11, 2001, and their loved ones through prayer, contemplation, memorial services, the visiting of memorials, the ringing of bells, evening candlelight remembrance vigils, and other appropriate ceremonies and activities.

He specifically noted military service following the Read more

Iraqis Being Flying US F-16s

While some question the stability — and the political alliances — of their government back home, a group of Iraqi pilots has become the first to begin training in US F-16s:

Two Iraqis have joined aspiring fighter pilots from the United States, Singapore, Poland, Denmark, Japan and the Netherlands at the U.S. Air Force’s international F-16 schoolhouse at Tucson International Airport.

A “senior delegation” recently visited to “assess their students’ progress.”

Iraq is reportedly expecting to receive F-16s in 2014.

Weinstein on Accused Fort Hood Shooter Will Shave, or Be Shaved

Col Gregory Gross, the judge presiding over the murder trial of US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan for the Fort Hood massacre, followed through on his threat and issued an order that Hasan must shave — or he will be shaved.

Gross…issued his order Thursday after a hearing to determine whether a federal religious freedom law applied to Hasan’s case.  Soldiers may be granted permission to grow beards for religious reasons, and six soldiers have been allowed to do so: a rabbi, two Muslim doctors and three Sikhs, according to Army records.

Hasan said he is violating regulations not out of disrespect, but of religious requirement:

Hasan told the judge last week that he grew a beard because his Muslim faith requires it, not as a show of disrespect. Gross ruled Thursday that the defense didn’t prove Hasan is growing a beard for sincere religious reasons.

While the whole concept might sound a bit odd to outsiders, forced Read more

Rush Limbaugh and the Petition of American Military Atheists

The Air Force Times recently admitted to letting the “news” slip by without reporting it.  After checking the White House “We the People” petition website (to view the White House beer recipe), an astute reporter noticed that the White House had responded to a petition to pull Rush Limbaugh off AFN, the worldwide DoD radio and TV broadcast system.  That is, the White House responded in July.  From the AFTimes:

[The petition] threshold for a reply was 25,000 people — a level reached in April — but the reply wasn’t posted until July and got scant Read more

Political Platform Addresses Religion in the Military

While Clint Eastwood may have stolen the show at the Republican National Convention, the party did publish its Republican Platform for 2012, which is fairly blunt in its statement on religious freedom in the US military.  It specifically addresses the benefits of faith-based institutions to the military, religious freedom for chaplains and military members, and bans on Bibles and religious symbology on military facilities.

While the Democrat Platform doesn’t specifically mention religious freedom in the military, it does celebrate the repeal of DADT and the call to end DOMA, both of which affect military policies.

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