Tag Archives: Congress

First Black, Female, 2-Star General on Diversity

US Army Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson was recently profiled (at The Root, a website for “African-American influencers”) as an example of diversity in the US military, given her position as the “most senior-ranking black woman” in the military made her an indicator of the “color of change.”

While there are often many criticisms regarding the practice of highlighting “differences” in a world that is supposedly blind to such differences, Gen Anderson did make one comment that is valuable in discussions about being an example to others [emphasis added]:  Read more

Air Force Drafts Instruction to Strengthen Religious Liberty

In an interesting comparison on perspective, the Washington Times noted near the end of May that some were making an effort to “push [the] military for more religious liberty,” including members of Congress:

Rep. John Fleming, Louisiana Republican, criticized the military for appearing “zealous to shut down expressions of faith.”

“This is our military telling service members to raise their hands and ask permission before they dare to utter an expression of faith,” Mr. Fleming said during a speech at the Family Research Council.

Daniel Blomberg of the Becket Fund noted that Congress had twice passed laws requiring the US military to “be more accommodating to religious beliefs and practices,” laws Read more

Air Force May Change Religious Freedom Policy

Mikey Weinstein’s confused take on the Air Force’s policy:  It’s like an umbrella in a tsunami…

McClatchy asked the question no other media outlet has in the past few weeks: What ever became of the “offsite” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said she was convening?

Late last month, James and Welsh convened a “Religious Freedom Focus Day” conference of senior chaplains and legal and manpower officials to discuss the policy. An Air Force spokeswoman, Rose Richeson, declined to make the results of the April 28 meeting public, saying it would be “too premature to provide an interview.”

It would seem, though, someone may have heard what occurred:

Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council…said that based on what he’d heard from people at the meeting he expected the Air Force to “make a policy change shortly.”

The article says Perkins’ statement “alarms supporters of the policy,” and cites exactly one person: Michael “Mikey” Weinstein.  The policy Read more

Pilot in Limbo after 60 Minutes Interview

Two years ago, two pilots took to 60 Minutes — with a Congressman for protection — to declare the F-22 had serious oxygen problems and the Air Force wasn’t acting with a sense of urgency to fix them.

Now, the lower ranking of the two, Capt Joshua Wilson, is still wondering if he’ll ever get back in the cockpit:

A member of the Virginia Air National Guard’s 149th Fighter Squadron, Wilson hasn’t been permitted to fly the jet since early 2012. He’s fighting disciplinary actions that he sees as retribution for going public.

Wilson has reportedly had his promotion revoked, been prohibited from serving in a full-time position with ACC, and told he would face an FEB — a flying evaluation board that would likely take away his wings.

According to the report, Read more

Nidal Hasan Denied Grooming Waiver

Much has been made of the January changes to the US military religious accommodation policy — changes presumably made in light of the 2013 and 2014 NDAAs passed by Congress that required the US military to promulgate policies protecting religious expression.

The changes have been criticized by almost everyone, including Congress, religious liberty advocates, and even religious groups who might benefit from grooming or uniform wear waivers. The policies do not expressly address religious expression, and the waivers they allow are temporary and subject to the whim of local commanders, according to some sources.

The US military recently revealed that two applicants have been denied waivers under the new policy.

In addition, it said since 2012 it has approved six and denied Read more

National Day of Prayer: Dobson Invokes Obama

The 2014 National Day of Prayer was already marginally controversial because of the US military’s decision to allow uniformed servicemembers to attend at the request of Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Al).

There were largely only two stories that came out of the event: Dr. James Dobson called President Obama the “abortion president,” and Rep Janice Hahn (D-Ca) walked out.

Unfortunately, calling out President Obama Read more

Mikey Weinstein Threatens DoD with More Letters

When the DoD declined to respond to Weinstein’s letter demanding they withdraw participation from the National Day of Prayer held by Congress, he declined to make his normal vitriolic demands that the military would have to “tell it to the judge.” Instead, he threatened…more letters:

Weinstein [said] that “it is likely there will be more letters” sent to the Pentagon regarding their objection to the involvement of the Pentagon with the task force.

True to his word (this time) Weinstein wrote another (long) letter (PDF), claiming the National Day of Prayer event not only caused the DoD to violate the law, but also put Congress in violation of the law.  Despite some concerted efforts on his part, the letter Read more

Congressmen Call Air Force Religion Rules Unconstitutional

Update: Congressman Lamborn’s potential political rivals reacted, with Republican Bentley Rayburn, a retired Major General and 1975 USAFA graduate, saying Lamborn hasn’t done enough to support religious freedom at USAFA, while Democrat Irv Halter, also a retired Major General and 1977 USAFA graduate, says Lamborn has gone too far.

A few weeks ago congressmen asked the Secretary of the Air Force to document and explain the Air Force religious policy and its application at the US Air Force Academy, following USAFA’s command decision to pull down a Bible verse on a cadet’s whiteboard. As noted then and in a subsequent congressional hearing, the Air Force has relied heavily on AFI 1-1, a Chief of Staff level AFI published in the final days of General Norton Schwartz’s tenure in 2012.

Now, Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado (home to the US Air Force Academy) has written a letter signed by 22 other congressmen asking Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James to revise the policy at issue:

The August 2012 Air Force regulations which govern religious freedom and expression (AFI 1-1) are inconsistent with Congressional intent and current law…

The first issue Lamborn cites is the “undefinable” standard the Air Force uses [emphasis added]:  Read more

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