USAFA has its “Falcon Circle,” and just down the street Fort Carson has its unique religious “chapel” as well.
As previously noted, the Turkey Creek ranch US Army facility of Fort Carson has been used for some years to support the religious freedom of men and women in the US military of all kinds. The kind of worship? A native American sweat lodge.
Michael Hackwith is the local spiritual leader and leads the group in Read more
In a bit of sensationalist headlining, a few news articles noted the Defense Department report blasting the acquisition program of the Navy’s MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter.
According to a June 24 report from the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, the critical error came when the drone’s operator accidentally pressed the spacebar with a wire from his headset — launching the self-destruct mechanism on the vehicle.
As the articles later note, there’s no such thing as a single-button Read more
US Air Force General Stephen R. Lorenz recently retired as the head of Air Education and Training Command. (He is also a former Commandant of the US Air Force Academy.) He frequently wrote commentaries alliteratively entitled “Lorenz on Leadership.” On July 19th, the Air Force published his most recent article, in which he recounted a Chaplain’s run-in over pre-mission prayer:
As the troops were preparing to board the helicopters to an FOB that had recently been under attack, several Soldiers asked the chaplain if he could lead them in a prayer. A lieutenant colonel happened to be with the group and the chaplain, who was a captain, thought as a common courtesy he would ask the senior officer for permission to say a prayer for the troops about to enter combat. The lieutenant colonel replied to the chaplain that, “It would not be necessary” and walked away. The chaplain followed this senior officer’s guidance and did not lead the men in a prayer.
General Lorenz took the Lieutenant Colonel to task: Read more
An Army Soldier continued an old tradition of bestowing a US flag from a combat theatre upon a significant person.
Detective Andrew Gordon of the South Charleston Police Department was surprised when a package arrived at the police department all the way from Kuwait. Inside were an American flag, a plaque and a certificate Read more
Can you hold hands while in uniform? How about a kiss or embrace?
Believe it or not, those are some of the most often asked questions by new officers and enlisted — and in most cases, the answer wasn’t clear. Now, however, it’s in plain English: If you choose to do those things in uniform, you may well be in violation of the new Air Force regulations.
Last year, the Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, otherwise known as the report on the DADT survey, noted the ‘sensitivities’ of public displays of affection with respect to homosexuality. The working group made this observation: Read more
Daniel Blomberg at the Alliance Defense Fund has an interesting article over the negative impact of DADT repeal implied even by those championing it:
If this change is risky enough that even the President scrambles to prevent it from happening “too quickly,” the Secretary of Defense who championed it focuses on limiting damage wrought by it, and most combat troops anticipate harm from it, why are we forcing it on our service men and women at all?
If you recall, some were asking how DADT repeal would improve the US military’s effectiveness. Blomberg points out it seems most say they’re doing what they can to “mitigate” the negative.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus censured Cmdr Liam Bruen, the recently retired Navy fighter squadron commander, over the naming ceremony of an administrative officer who took offense.
In a slap at the fading and officially out-of-favor tradition of racy, sarcastic and irreverent aviation call signs, a just-retired Navy fighter squadron commanding officer was censured by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Wednesday for failing to halt and subsequently condoning the hazing of a junior officer at a 2009 call sign review board where assembled officers voted to call the officer “Romo’s Bitch” the Navy announced…
The Navy also counseled the unit’s second in command, Cmdr Damien Christopher, who had gone on to command, for violations of the Navy’s “policies on hazing and Read more
US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, accused in the Fort Hood massacre in 2009, has been arraigned for military trial. His civilian lawyer, retired Colonel John Galligan, reportedly “took a leave of absence” from the case. FoxNews implied his departure might have been related to his lack of security clearance. Galligan has been vocal about Hasan’s “mistreatment” to date:
“I have consistently argued that Major Hasan has not been treated fairly. I maintain that belief,” Galligan said Wednesday.
Col. Gregory Gross, the military chief circuit judge, scheduled the trial for 5 March 2012 in response to the defense’s request for a delay.
By that date, the baby killed in the rampage would have been about 2 years old.