Tag Archives: air force

Military Reviews Moral Solutions to Causes of Sexual Assault

Two Air Force JAGs, Major Ken Artz and 1Lt Peter Smyczek wrote a fascinating article that supported General Mark Welsh’s assertion that the accepted culture is part of the sexual assault problem in the military.  Entitled “Sexual Assaults in the Military: Porn is Part of the Problem,” their piece began with a simple statement [emphasis added]:

If our military is to lower its rate of sex crimes, it must limit its members’ consumption of pornography and educate them about its risks.

The JAGs point out that the Air Force must address the underlying behaviors that lead to sexual assault — not merely attack the Read more

F-16 Crashes at Luke Air Force Base

Update: Gen Mike Rothstein, the Luke AFB wing commander, indicated the F-16 may have been brought down by a bird strike.

Two pilots ejected safely when their F-16 crashed at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, last night.

The jet went down just before 7 p.m. in a desert area about 3 miles west of the airfield, said officials at the base.

Both pilots suffered minor injuries, Sgt. Linda Rainey said. Their names weren’t immediately released.

Glendale Fire Department officials said the two pilots were seen walking around after the crash and were taken to Luke Air Force Base Hospital for further evaluation.

Luke is the primary training base for American F-16 pilots (the base also hosts international F-16 training), meaning the two pilots were likely instructor and student.

Repeated at Stars and Stripes and the Air Force Times.

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Military Atheist Chaplain Amendment Fails

Most popular press covered the religious freedom portions of the controversies surrounding the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.  Another interesting conversation, though, occurred with an official attempt by Congress to mandate atheist chaplains.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) offered the amendment to the [NDAA]. The amendment would have allowed humanists and other nonbelievers join the Chaplain Corps.

(The topic of atheist chaplains has come up many times before.)  Polis said atheists were “denied” a “right” because they could not “confide in an adviser who is not a mental health professional.”  The amendment was defeated, according to some reports, because it was “absurd.”  (This was actually the second Read more

JAG: Military May Not be able to Ban Offensive Websites

In the middle of the ongoing discussion about US military troops and their use of social media comes an interesting piece at the Marine Corps Times, where former military JAGs make the case that the Marines may not be able to police troops’ use of certain websites, despite their implication they may try to do so.

The impetus behind the discussion are generally certain Facebook pages that were denigrating toward female Marines.  Said General James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps:

In a May 29 letter to Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., Gen. Jim Amos denounced Facebook pages and other social media Read more

Michael Weinstein Inspires Congressional Action, Part 2

Update: Weinstein responded:

Weinstein is the kind of guy who revels in the dislike of his adversaries.

“How terrified are these little pu***es in Congress that they have to pass an amendment about me?” he shouted in a phone interview from the foundation’s headquarters in Albuquerque, N.M., using a putdown associated with a woman’s genitalia.

Always classy.

In the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, US Rep John Fleming successfully changed the 2013 NDAA wording after the US Air Force appeared to be acting as a part of Michael Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation’s self-described “war” on Christians.

Weinstein also inspired US Rep Tim Huelskamp (R-Ks) to add an amendment of his own which would require the Department of Defense to report to Congress every time it met with an outside group for the purpose of

writing, revising, issuing, implementing, enforcing, or seeking advice, input, or counsel regarding military policy related to religious liberty.

This was clearly in response to Weinstein’s 23 April meeting with the JAG of the US Air Force, among others, which Weinstein bragged about to his like-minded media arm, Sally Quinn.  Rep Huelskamp even called it a “rebuke” of “anti-Christian zealot Michael Weinstein.”

The MRFF has sarcastically embraced this amendment, because it would “force” the DoD to report on its meetings with groups like Chaplain endorsers:  Read more

Michael Weinstein Inspires Congressional Action, Part 1

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s recent attacks on religious freedom — and the apparent subservience of the US Air Force to his every whim — have inspired the US Congress to write opposition to Weinstein into law.  Twice.

In the first, US Rep John Fleming (R-La.) successfully inserted language into the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act that would be more explicit than that which was in the 2013 version — and which was subsequently dismissed in a “signing statement” by President Obama.  (According to reports, the Department of Defense has yet to produce regulations implementing the provision, as required.)  Rep Fleming’s amendment, Section 530, says [wording changes from 2013 highlighted]:  Read more

Weinstein Revels in Publicity, Publisher Decries Pentagon Hostility

Despite “protesting” for weeks that his relationship with the US Air Force has been mischaracterized, Michael Weinstein of his self-founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation recently touted his inimitable influence over the US military.

At Breitbart.com, Ken Klukowski of the Family Research Council notes that Weinstein’s recent bragging seemingly contradicts the Pentagon’s efforts to downplay their relationship.

One month ago the Pentagon assured the public it was not being advised by anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein. Yet two days ago Weinstein called the Pentagon demanding that a Christian painting be removed from a dining hall in an Idaho Air Force base, and the Pentagon complied with his demand–in less than one hour.

Klukowski notes that Weinstein brags he got action in less than an hour, while US Congressmen haven’t gotten a response to their queries in weeks.

The “Christian painting” was described by the publisher Read more

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