Tag Archives: air university

Air Force, LtGen Steven Kwast Send Message to Mikey Weinstein

The US Air Force sent a strong message to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently when it elevated the officer he’d demanded be “aggressively punished.”

In January of this year LtGen Steven “Killer” Kwast was quoted in a local Alabama paper saying, among other things, that

I’m not so arrogant as to think that I can make any plans unless God’s in it.

LtGen Kwast was the commander and president of the Air Force’s Air University; essentially, the academic arm of the Air Force. Because LtGen Kwast had the audacity to mention God, Mikey Weinstein filed an IG complaint and demanded that he be “aggressively punished”.

Instead, the Air Force responded by promoting him.

LtGen Steven Kwast is now Read more

Mikey Weinstein Demands “Aggressive Punishment” after LtGen Steven Kwast Mentions God

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently demanded the US Air Force “aggressively punish” LtGen Steven Kwast, Commander and President of the Air Force’s Air University, claiming he violated Air Force regulations by “discuss[ing]” his faith.

While typical and not unlike his rebuffed accusations against LtCol Michael Kersten, this Weinstein complaint is unique in its near-honesty.

First, Weinstein readily admitted he filed the complaint only because LtGen Kwast “openly discussed his (Christian) faith” (parentheses original) and, shockingly, quoted the Bible:

Lt. Gen. Steven L. Kwast openly discussed his (Christian) faith by, among other faith-based statements, quoting New Testament scripture from Matthew 25:21…

It would be more accurate to say LtGen Kwast mentioned his faith, but it’s Read more

Foreign Policy: US Military Christians Targeted

Over on a sometime-controversial blog at Foreign Policy, Tom Ricks posts an article by Richard Andres on criticisms of the Air Force’s professional military education.  Said Andres:

In a recent book chapter, Dan Hughes, a retired Air War College professor, launched an emotionally charged diatribe against the Air War College and Air University of which it is a part…

According to Hughes, the school is run by a group of bottom-tier, anti-intellectual, Christian evangelical, Rush Limbaugh-addicted colonels who have created an institution lacking in basic academic rigor and standards.

Both Hughes and Andres indicate they were Air University professors.  For his part, Andres admits there is some credence to Hughes’ general criticisms (“politics and religion aside”).  The larger debate focuses on the overall value of the military schools.  Andres’ main point is Hughes mischaracterized the bigger struggle ongoing at Air University:  that between often liberal-leaning civilian faculty and more conservative-leaning military faculty and students:

Beyond prizing academic rigor and hoping to avoid contact with policy, academics generally share a common professional mindset that is somewhat left of center, dislikes evangelical Christianity, and views the military with distrust.

Most interesting, however is a somewhat chilling story about the intentional targeting of religious beliefs:  Read more