Tag Archives: Afghanistan

Mormon Troops Integrate Missions, Military Service

A Utah paper highlighted the service of local Mormons with the Utah National Guard, which includes arrangements allowing teenagers to enlist, go to boot camp — and then take a two year break for their mission:

“A lot of people told me I couldn’t be both a Marine and a missionary,” [LCpl Brady] Knowles said before he left for the LDS Church’s Indianapolis Mission last year. “But when I talked to the Marine recruiters and told them I was going to serve a mission, they told me it could be worked out. And it was.”

Upon graduating from high school, Knowles enlisted Read more

Soldiers, ACLU Sue for Right to Combat

The ACLU and four female servicemembers have sued the Department of Defense because the DoD officially excludes women from (some) combat roles.  (This is the second such suit to be filed this year, though “ACLU” may get a little more attention than “University of Virginia.”)  The justification is largely similar to that which supported the repeal of DADT and the recent legalization of marijuana in some states: People are doing it anyway, so it might as well be made official. 

In fact, the ACLU almost explicitly borrows the DADT mantra Read more

Former Air Force Airman Charged with Terrorism

Sohiel Omar Kabir is a former US Air Force Airman who has been arrested in Afghanistan for recruiting and plotting terrorist attacks against US interests, including US military facilities in Afghanistan.

Kabir, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan, served in the Air Force from 2000 to 2001. He spent some time at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., pulling aircraft or vehicle parts from a supply store. He was administratively separated for unknown reasons Read more

Atheists Broaden Attacks on Military Memorials

An atheist thinks this is an illegal “Christian shrine.”

Multiple military war memorials are now under attack by atheists who consider the presence of a Christian cross offensive.

Former soldier and current atheist Jason Torpy, the one-man association of military atheists (MAAF), has previously lodged complaints with the US Marines over the Camp Pendleton cross (which has yet to be resolved).  He is opposed to the cross in Arlington National Cemetery for the same reason.

This follows the national trend of several activist organizations that have been threatening cities and towns with lawsuits if they fail to remove memorials which contain Read more

Seabees Help Chaplain Support Religious Freedom

Chaplain (LtCmdr) Neal Kreisler traveled with some unique kit to support the spiritual fitness of the troops he served, but not all the pieces made the transit.  So he got a little help.  Kreisler

brought a kosher Sukkah, or a small dwelling used outside the home during the holiday, that those practicing Judaism believe represents the Clouds of Glory by which the Israelites were protected after their exodus from Egypt…

While in transit, a piece of the Sukkah was lost and Rabbi Read more

Chaplain Promotes Comprehensive Fitness in Afghanistan

US Army Chaplain (Capt) Randy Loux is a Fort Bragg-based Soldier currently deployed to Afghanistan to exercise his specialty in “spiritual strength.”

“Whether back in garrison at Fort Bragg, N.C., or in a combat zone in Afghanistan, spiritual fitness should be the no. 1 priority because when a soldier is first and foremost ‘spiritually fit,’ then all the others will naturally fall in place,” said Loux.

He accurately notes something that escapes some who oppose religious freedom in the military:  Read more

Comfort Amid Cruelty: Christian Doc on Serving in Afghanistan

As a Christian surgeon deployed to Afghanistan, some tragedies will forever be burned into my memory. One such experience happened during a mass casualty situation. A vehicle-borne IED detonated in a public place, killing several Afghanis and injuring eight, including a six-year-old boy… 
 
Before long, the sound of two arriving Black Hawk helicopters thundered throughout the ER. The trauma teams quickly and skillfully began treating the incoming patients—securing airways, placing chest tubes, starting IVs, and taking X-rays while assessing injuries. 

When the boy was brought in…

Read more.  You won’t be disappointed.

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