Tag Archives: air force

MRFF, Atheists, Commissary Manager Grumble over Bibles

Jason Torpy, a former Army Captain and current atheist, previously claimed to have influenced the Air Force to remove Gideon Bibles from hotel room checklists for Air Force lodging facilities.

Critics had claimed this would end the presence of the Bibles altogether; the Air Force disagreed, but Torpy agreed — and that is what he wanted, as he called the Bibles Christian “privilege.”

It seems the original complaint came not from a member of the military but from civilian Daniel Smith, the Store Director for the Navy Commissary in Yokosuka, Japan.  He recently complained — again — because there were shockingly still Bibles available to Air Force lodging patrons:

The Air Force never publicly said it would remove Bibles Read more

Airman Delivers Daughter, Deploys

Airman First Class Timothy Pledger’s first flight out to deploy to Guam for six months was delayed, so he was able to spend a few more hours with his wife, who was due to have their child “any day.”  His daughter decided to make her arrival at that moment, so Pledger had to help:

So Pledger returned home to be with his pregnant wife…Around 9 a.m., his wife’s water broke…

“The baby was already coming out. I called [emergency services] so they could give me step-by-step instructions on how to deliver the baby…”

After applying what the emergency personnel told him, a few minutes later his daughter was completely out and breathing normally.

A few hours later, Pledger got on an airplane and left for six months:  Read more

Air Force Issues Guidance on Chaplains, Homosexuals

The Air Force Chaplaincy recently issued guidance (PDF) on how chaplains should handle a variety of situations regarding homosexuals and chaplains whose theologies do not allow them to support that lifestyle:

Wing Chaplains, talk with the chaplains under your supervision so that you are clear on what each chaplain’s endorser’s expectations are regarding ministry to same-gender couples.  Honor those expectations and do not ask a chaplain to do anything contrary to his or her endorsement.

The Air Force appears to be the first service to explain how to handle marriage retreats where a homosexual couple may attend.  Speaking to the Air Force “MarriageCare” retreats:

When you advertise a MC retreat, announce the chaplain who will be leading the event and the chaplain’s endorser.  If the chaplain Read more

Michael Weinstein as Subject Matter in AF EO Course

It was noted once here before that Michael Weinstein met a newspaper’s definition for “conspiracy theorist”, though it wasn’t trying to talk about Weinstein at the time.  In that vein, Judicial Watch recently obtained training materials from an Air Force Equal Opportunity course, which had a similar unintended subject matter — listing character traits for Michael Weinstein without meaning to.

What was it the AF training was trying to describe?

An extremist.

The following text describes how the EO course inadvertenty describes many character traits that Weinstein displays.  While most won’t be interested in such a character analysis, the reason for noting this is to highlight the fact that Michael Weinstein is no run-of-the-mill “religious freedom” advocate, despite his claims.  He is, as the course material shows, a religious “extremist” intent on bending the US military to his will — even if it contradicts human liberty and the protections of the US Constitution…and an Air Force training course actually helps explain that.

Quoting from Nazis, communists, Klansmen, and others on the fringe: Political extremism in America by George and Wilcox (1992), the Air Force Equal Opportunity Read more

Airmen Serve on Mission Trip to Honduras

Two Security Forces Airmen, Senior Airmen Joe Potalivo and Nicholas Gahm, recently volunteered to go on a mission trip to Honduras with their church, Radiant Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Their main objective…was to help build three, large, brick buildings, that once completed, would house more than 100 orphans. They did a little of everything, from erecting insulation to constructing a perimeter security.

While work was the order of the day, there was another component they may not have anticipated:

“Every day we would come to work, many of the village children would be there waiting on us, greeting us with smiles and Read more

Airmen Files Religious Complaint, Gets Investigated

Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Philip Monk, who had filed a complaint of religious discrimination, had apparently inspired an Air Force investigation into his claims.  Now it seems he is being investigated for making a “false official statement.”

The Air Force has taken the first steps to criminally investigate Monk for talking to the media about his situation…

On Aug. 27, an Air Force investigator met with Monk and his attorney, Mike Berry from Liberty Institute. Berry expected it to be a routine meeting to take a statement from his client, but during the meeting the investigator said that he would read Monk his Miranda rights.

Monk was advised that he is being investigated Read more

Reports: US Military Christians Targeted for Beliefs

FoxNews had a somewhat inflammatory title to its article, “Air Force cracking down on Christians,” in which columnist Todd Starnes noted the story of SMSgt Philip Monk, currently being investigated after filing a complaint of religious discrimination.

Lost in some of the controversy, though, was this near the end of the article [emphasis added]:

[Monk’s] not the only Christian at Lackland Air Force Base facing persecution for opposing gay marriage, according to Monk’s pastor.

Steve Branson is the pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church, about five miles from the Air Force base. He tells me that as many as a half dozen of his church members are currently facing persecution…for their religious beliefs.

“Sgt. Monk is just the tip of the iceberg,” Read more

Female USAFA Cadets Majority of Masculinity Class

The Colorado Springs Gazette, local to the US Air Force Academy, highlighted USAFA’s addition of an academic elective entitled “Men and Masculinity” (previously noted here).

Visiting Professor Christopher Kilmartin, of the University of Mary Washington, is teaching a course on masculinity at the U.S. Air Force Academy this semester, as part of a new program to discourage sexual assaults…

“My job as an educator is to name the pressure” that exists for males to conform to unhealthy masculine stereotypes, Kilmartin continued.

The article notes the elective is filled with cadets, “most of whom are female.”  Females make up less than 20% of the cadet wing.

No word on when USAFA will offer a course of “Women and Femininity” — or if most of the students would be male.

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