Tag Archives: Afghanistan

LtGen Caslen: West Point Prayer ‘Crossed the Line’

The video below is a Washington Post interview in which LtGen Robert Caslen, US Military Academy Superintendent, addressed his response to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s complaint about the team prayer requested by West Point football Coach Jeff Monken. The 4 minute response is worth watching, as he speaks with nuance that is often lost when he is subsequently quoted.

That said, nuance isn’t everything:

LtGen Caslen said they removed the original video that included the prayer because it was “offensive” — a seemingly illogical explanation. PETA finds the use of live mules as Army mascots offensive, but the Army continues to do it. The practice of liberty ensures that someone will be offended, and since Read more

US Military Focuses on Sex During Ramadan, PTSD Month

dodpride2Though the month of June marks references to both Ramadan and PTSD awareness (among other things), from news coverage and official US military press releases, you’d think June in the US military was all about sex.

The Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes June as PTSD awareness month, though as yet Congress has only recognized June 27th as PTSD awareness day. Thus, PTSD awareness month is not enshrined in law as, say, Religious Freedom Day is.

Notably, neither the current Congress nor any prior law recognizes any day or month as a celebration of “Gay Pride” — yet President Barack Obama issued a proclamation marking just such a recognition.

While he has annually issued praise for homosexuality in June, according to Read more

Army Chaplain Reportedly Resigns over War Policies

antalUS Army Reserve Chaplain Christopher Antal submitted his resignation “in protest” in April due, according to Antal, to the American policies regarding drones, nuclear weapons, and “preventive war, permanent military supremacy and global power projection.”

Antal publicly submitted his letter directly to his Commander-in-Chief, President Obama.

Reached for comment, the Army somewhat subtly said Antal had submitted his resignation, but Read more

US Military Celebrates Jesus Christ’s Resurrection in Baghdad, 2016

How many people thought after the US invaded Iraq in 2003 that we’d still be celebrating Easter in Baghdad in 2016?

In Iraq, chaplains and their support teams used air and ground support to provide Easter services for troops throughout the country, including the location formerly known as Fire Base Bell — the small outpost attacked a little more than a week prior.

The Easter sunrise service was just one of five religious services held at Union III and one of many services across the CJFLCC-OIR area of operations in celebration of the holiday.

A few official news sources have begun to document this year’s other celebrations of Easter by US military forces around the world.

Aboard the USS Nitze:  Read more

National Guard Marks 10 Years Since Shootdown, Death of Wiccan Soldier

A Nevada National Guard article marked the 10th anniversary of the crash of Mustang 22, a CH-47 that was shot down in Afghanistan in 2005. (The article was written on the anniversary in September, though published only recently.)

Last autumn marked the 10th anniversary since the Nevada National Guard lost two Soldiers in the worst helicopter accident in Nevada Guard history. Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Flynn and Sgt. Patrick Stewart were killed on Sept. 25, 2005, when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter, Mustang 22, was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade while flying over Afghanistan…

Flynn and Stewart were the second and third Read more

Fighter Pilots in Afghanistan Contradict Commander-in-Chief

As of January, President Barack Obama declared that combat in Afghanistan was over.

A unit of F-16 fighter pilots at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan was recently quoted as saying they’re basically doing the same thing they were last year — combat.

Pilots from the 388th Fighter Wing’s 421st Fighter Squadron are still flying round-the-clock patrols, and they are still dropping bombs on the enemy. The airstrikes, which reached a 10-month high in October — are seen as vital to stopping insurgents from overrunning vulnerable areas around Read more

An Air Force Widow’s Story: Living by Faith

heathergray

Just before sunset on Veterans Day, she sat next to her husband’s headstone at Arlington National Cemetery, reminding her three children how their father was with God in heaven and what it means to have faith.

Faith has kept Heather Gray moving forward. It’s what has gotten her through the grief and trials she faced after her husband, Maj. David Gray, was killed by a suicide bomber in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 8, 2012…

One of David’s escorts had brought back a little box, one that usually holds wet wipes, and told Heather he didn’t know what it was, but thought it was something she would like to have.

“Each kid had given David a small toy of theirs to take with him while he Read more

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