US Soldiers participating in a week-long road march through Europe as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve took some time off to celebrate their faith with their Slovak counterparts:
“I often say that the relationship between Slovakia and the United States is manyfold we are friends, we are partners and we are also allies and an exercise Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently published an anonymous, 3,000-word essay from a “senior officer” describing why MRFF “clients” always remain anonymous in their complaints against Christians and religion in the US military.
While the treatise is meant to provide justification for the “clients” in Weinstein’s anonymous attacks on Christians in the military, many people would likely agree with the general, neutral premise — highlighting oneself can negatively affect a military career. For example, Tony Carr blogging at John Q. Public and many others have become outlets for members of the military unwilling to name themselves out of fear for their careers. As Weinstein’s acolyte says:
One doesn’t need to commit a punishable offense…to derail a career and if I’m a commander judging a group of subordinates, I don’t even need to bother myself with the mountains of paperwork that would come with actually initiating disciplinary action against one of my junior officers…
Instead, I just can as easily kill the career of an unchosen one with sweet kindness and honesty…If you don’t have a complete, unbroken string of golden soccer trophies for every assignment and year of service, you’re done…
Again, the implication is not Read more
Uniformed troops from a half-dozen nations carried their national colors in their annual participation in the pilgrimage to the Church of the Black Madonna:
For more than 400 years, people throughout the Balkans have been making the pilgrimage to the Church of the Black Madonna to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For more than a decade, KFOR’s Soldiers Read more
The US Navy conducts an annual “blessing of the fleet,” a tradition intended to “safeguard crews and ships” from the hazards of the oceans through a religious blessing.
It turns out the Navy also conducts a “blessing of the wings” as part of new Naval Aviators’ winging ceremonies. An official Navy article recounts that the chapel at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi held its first services on the infamous December 7, 1941, and as the new aviators went off to war, chaplains began “blessing” their wings:
According to the chaplains, during World War II, many Catholic chaplains began blessing the wings of Catholic aviators. This tradition continued throughout the years and eventually became a “Blessing of the Wings” service in chapels around the world.
Eventually the service included Read more
As part of the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress required the DoD Inspector General to report to Congress on the US military’s promulgation of religious liberty protections. This was presumably due to perceptions the military was being unresponsive to the wording in laws passed by Congress.
As a result of that requirement, the DoD IG released an initial report (3MB PDF) last week more notable for what it did not say than what it did. Despite specific congressional attention on “individual expressions of belief,” the IG report almost completely ignored that topic — though it admitted why [emphasis added]:
Virtually all…events in a service member’s career involve subjective, discretionary decisionmaking on the part of leaders and commanders. Identifying examples of discrimination based on conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs was unrealistic because those reasons would almost never be cited as the basis for the decision…Further, denials of promotion, schooling, training, and assignment are a subset of adverse personnel actions.
To summarize: Read more
An official US Air Force article documents the story of MSgt Cesar Jurilla and his wife Cora, who have annually volunteered their time for the past 5 years to travel as part of a Catholic mission to the Philippines:
Every January for the past five years, Master Sgt. Cesar Jurilla, of the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Reconnaissance Wing, travels to these remote locations with his wife, Cora, as part of a team of doctors, nurses and nonmedical assistants…
The teams visit is coordinated with local priests who help identify needy areas. As with many of the missions in which US troops volunteer, the mission itself is supported by fundraisers and the volunteers travel out of pocket.
The trip is coordinated by the Filipino ministry Read more
Chaplain (MajGen) Paul Hurley recently became the newest Army Chief of Chaplains, and pinned on two stars in the process:
The Army’s new chief of chaplains was promoted to the rank of major general and installed in his post during a ceremony May 22 at Memorial Chapel on the Fort Myer portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.
Maj. Gen. Paul K. Hurley’s, chaplain, promotion Read more
In March the Senate confirmed Chaplain (COL) Paul Hurley for the position of Army Chief of Chaplains.
Hurley was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1995. He will replace Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Donald Rutherford, who plans to retire.
Chaplain Hurley will skip BG and be promoted to Major General. He recently spoke at the Fort Hood prayer breakfast, in which he quoted General George C. Marshall:
Hurley continued with a quote from former General of the Army George C. Marshall, commenting on the importance of the spirit.
“The Soldier’s heart, the Soldier’s spirit, the Soldier’s soul, are everything. Unless the Soldier’s soul sustains him, he cannot be relied on and will fail himself and his commander and his country in the end,” quoted Hurley.
Also at BostonCatholic.org. Read more