Category Archives: Christian Living

Focus on the Military Marriage

Focus on the Family has a series of articles on “The Chain of Command in Marriage,” a brief look at the challenges to marriage in the military.  Interestingly, it quotes Judy McChrystal, wife of former Chaplain (Col) Scott McChrystal, who is brother to General Stanley McChrystal.

The article is a fairly comprehensive overview of the challenges to maintaining (and rebuilding) a healthy marriage within the military environment.  The author is Jocelyn Green, author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives, one of many marriage and military resources available from Officers’ Christian Fellowship.

Christian Perspectives: Journal of Faith and War

The “Journal of Faith and War” is a relatively new resource of the Association for Christian Conferences, Teaching and Service (ACCTS) (see links).  The site

aims to influence for good the faith basis of morally responsible leadership in regard to preparing for war, going to war, fighting wars, concluding wars, evaluating wars, and maintaining discipline and accountability among parties involved in planning, projecting or applying military force. It will examine national defense decisions, policies, and strategies as well as the leadership of military and security forces.

Col Don Snider’s article on the authentic Christian witness in the military is at that site, as are a variety of articles on Biblical service, “calling” and the military, and others.  As the site collects content, it may prove to be a valuable resource for mature Christian and professional military insight.

See links to this and other valuable sites at the Links page.

The Authentic Witness of the Soldier Christian

Col (Dr) Don Snider (USA, Ret) has a well thought-out article on the Christian military witness at Journal of Faith and War.  He notes the complexity of the issue with a single opening phrase:

There are no formulas, Christ only said: “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.”

His points fall under the following categories:

Mastering the Context
“…you are not to compartment your life and its varied roles (supposing that you actually could do so psychologically which is, of course, quite debatable). You may not choose to be a Soldier leader in some settings and a Christian in others.” 

“You are, in addition, free to witness appropriately to your faith, Read more

Senior Enlisted Chiefs Forced Out Over Cheating

Not long after talking about the discharge of the cheating Marines, Stars and Stripes noted that two Navy Chiefs are being “forced to retire” after helping a Sailor cheat on a military advancement exam.

During a rare court-martial at sea, chief petty officers Reynaldo M. Bernardo and Ferdinand P. Quinto were found guilty May 24 of failing to obey a lawful order, said the aircraft carrier’s spokesman, LtCmdr Bill Urban…

It appears the cheating, which occurred on the USS George Washington, was fairly obvious: 

During the exam, Bernardo and Quinto moved a sailor to a different table and then instructed the sailor to cheat off another sailor’s test, Read more

Cheating Officer: Everybody Does It

Former US Marine 2nd Lieutenant Adam Ballard has given his excuse for his lapse in integrity, in which he cheated on a land navigation test:  everybody’s doing it, and it was the school’s fault:

Ballard admits his actions were wrong but said they were facilitated by “inordinately lax procedures at [the basic officer school]…”

Over half of the three hundred Marines in our company possessed the same information that I had and that those numbers were comparable, if not more, in all the other training companies past and present…

As noted here often, neither a “culture” that seems to encourage cheating, nor a tangible disadvantage for not cheating are excuses for making the “easier” wrong choice.

Christian Fighter Pilot, Super Bowl Winner Mentors Officers

2Lt Ben Garland, a recent Academy graduate, apparently has an assignment to pilot training that he is reconsidering.  If he changes his mind and does something else instead, he could avoid the 10 year minimum commitment to the Air Force for pilot training and do something else he loves: play in the NFL.

Garland has received counsel from at least one other person who was in a similar situation many years ago, a man who is famous in both the Air Force and the NFL:  Chad Hennings, a Christian fighter pilot Read more

Marine Fighter Pilot Charged with Stealing $440K

In the initial stages of both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US used (and often still uses today) large quantities of cash for a variety of purposes, from paying for reconstruction to compensating local nationals.

A Marine F-5 fighter pilot now stands accused of stealing $440,000 of reconstruction funds while he was a project purchasing officer with a civil affairs group in Iraq.  For a point of reference, a Major in the US military makes approximately $70,000 per year in base pay before taxes.

Regardless of the outcome of this particular case, it stands as a stark Read more

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