Tag Archives: Congress

Fort Bragg Chaplain Opens Congress with Prayer

US Army Chaplain (Capt) Rudy Stevens, currently assigned to Fort Bragg, was invited to deliver the invocation at the US House of Representatives in February.

“Lord, too often, we Americans back home forget to pray for our leaders here in D.C. Forgive us, Lord. For those assembled here in the people’s House, I pray that you give them courage, strength, and wisdom. Give them courage from our convictions, strength from your spirit, and wisdom for Read more

General Says Air Force Did Not Fault Crash Pilot, Despite Report

The Air Force Times notes that in Congressional testimony, Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz said the Air Force did not blame Capt Jeff Haney, pilot of the F-22 that crashed in Alaska — despite the public report apparently to the contrary.

Schwartz [said] the Air Force did not blame Capt. Jeff Haney for the…crash in Alaska, despite the service’s own report that said Haney was at fault.

“We did not assign blame to the pilot,” Schwartz said Read more

Senate Testimony on Terrorist Threat from Within

Last week, Pentagon leadership gave testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on their Annual Threat Assessment. A surprising, if somewhat understated, highlight was the pronouncement of a “growing concern” of terrorist threats from within the US intelligence and military communities:

Senior US military and intelligence officials are warning of their growing concern that rogue “radical” elements are operating – or preparing to operate – “within the ranks” of the intelligence community and armed forces.

Ultimately, this should be of little surprise, Read more

Lawsuit Filed over Deception of Pentagon DADT Data

The Thomas More Law Center has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Center for Military Readiness:

The purpose of the lawsuit is to obtain records believed to show intentional deception by the Pentagon to gain congressional support for repeal of the 1993 law regarding open homosexual conduct in the military, usually called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The TMLC alleges the Pentagon has

engaged in a pattern of deception in its efforts to persuade Congress to allow open homosexuality in our military.

The lawsuit centers around the premise the Pentagon leaked information to the Washington Post in 2010 to sway public opinion and Congress Read more

Air Force Lawyers Issued “Weinstein Guidance” in 2010

In its annual “The Military Commander and the Law,” the Air Force Judge Advocate General‘s School publishes guidance for commanders to help them understand some legal complexities related to their jobs.

For example, the nearly 700-page text contains explanations on issuing Articles 15, how to deal with FOIA, personnel issues, and sections on virtually every issue in which the law may impact a commander’s actions.

More interesting, however, was the new addition in 2010 of what could be best described as “Weinstein Guidance.”

The manual gives commanders new guidance on how to handle advocacy lawyers Read more

Mount Soledad Memorial Ruling Appealed to Supreme Court

The Liberty Institute has petitioned the US Supreme Court to reverse the ruling of the 9th Circuit, which held the 43-foot cross on Mount Soledad near San Diego was unconstitutional.  The 9th Circuit denied an en banc review.

Last year’s ruling by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals capped two decades of legal challenges over the cross that was used for Easter celebrations in the early 1900s and later became a memorial to Korean War Read more

Rep Randy Forbes Calls on Air Force to Put God Back in Motto

US Representative Randy Forbes (R-Va) has written a letter (PDF) signed by 35 members of the House asking the Air Force restore a unit’s motto that was changed after an atheist’s complaint.  The incident to which Rep Forbes is referring was actually first reported on ChristianFighterPilot.com, with the Religion Clause and the ADF Alliance Alert subsequently citing this site.

As noted three weeks ago, the USAF Rapid Capabilities Office responded to “needling” from former Army Captain Jason Torpy, an atheist, and changed its motto from “Doing God’s work with other people’s money” to “Doing miracles with other people’s money.”

The letter, addressed to Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz, says:

It has come to our attention that the US Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) has modified the logo on its official patch to remove its reference to “God,” following a complaint from Read more

US Army Censors Catholic Chaplains

Update: The Army defended its actions, with FoxNews saying it was a “cautionary move to preserve “military order and discipline,”” not censorship.

In a surprisingly underreported story, the US Army reportedly censored — and then admitted the wrong of censoring — US military Catholic chaplains during their performance of their Catholic Mass.  Catholic priests were apparently given letters to read to their parishes explaining the Catholic opposition to the Department of Health and Human Services mandate requiring insurance coverage for things that violate Catholic beliefs.

On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels. The letter calls on Catholics to resist the policy initiative, recently affirmed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, for federally mandated health insurance covering sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, because it represents a violation of the freedom of religion recognized by the U.S. Constitution.

The US Army’s Chaplaincy office responded:  Read more

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