Tag Archives: dadt

Critics Try to Out Retired Gen Bob Dees, Carson Campaign Chairman

Over the past months, a few critics have tried to draw attention to one particular person on the staff of Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson.

Originally his foreign policy advisor, Carson’s new campaign chairman is Bob Dees, a retired US Army Major General and former executive director of Campus Crusade for Christ (now “Cru“) which had a substantial ministry to the US armed forces called Military Ministry (now “CruMilitary“).

As early as November 10th of last year, James Bamford at Foreign Policy described Dees as

a retired general who believes Muslims pose a threat to the U.S., the military should spread Christianity, and Carson should be president.

But the statements that Bamford apparently found ‘disturbing’ were fairly benign:  Read more

US Military Faithful: ‘Not the Country They Swore to Defend’

The Washington Post covered the stories of some current and former US military members who are Muslim, and who are “disturbed by the rising anti-Muslim sentiment” in the United States [emphasis added]:

Many American Muslims say they are living through a difficult time in this country. For the Muslims who are former and current service members, the prejudice and anti-Muslim rhetoric is particularly painful. Those interviewed for this story said that hateful comments have driven a wedge between them and the country they swore to defend.

Commenters were quick to point out that one could just as easily say anti-Christian sentiment within society and the US military has made America a “different US than the one they swore to defend.” In fact, so many brought up this diverging culture in 2011 — regarding the acceptance of open homosexuality within Read more

Pentagon Leads on Sexuality and Gender, Defers on Religion

When dozens of retired General Officers lobbied Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to lift restrictions on Sikhs serving in the US military, the DoD had a somewhat odd response [emphasis added]:

A Pentagon official speaking to Military.com on background said there is no Defense Department policy on Sikhs…to review…

The Defense Department issues standards that the individual services may interpret broadly and implement on their own, with no service bound by a decision made by another…

In essence, the DoD said it doesn’t have a policy preventing  Read more

Cruz: All is Not Well in US Military

While many have claimed that the US military has been wholly unaffected by the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Senator and Presidential candidate Ted Cruz seems to have a different opinion:

Morale in the U.S. military has “plummeted” in recent years because President Barack Obama “doesn’t support our soldiers,” won’t even name the enemy “radical Islamic terrorism,” and is “more interested in promoting homosexuality in the military” than Read more

Navy Chief of Chaplains on Humanist Jason Heap, Chaplain Wes Modder

The US Navy Chief of Chaplains, Chaplain (RearAdm) Margaret Kibben was the subject of a lengthy article at the Navy Times which summarized her tenure and her perspectives on the Navy’s chaplain corps. The reporter, Meghann Myers, did an admirable job of trying to craft an unbiased and well-researched article, and she gave Chaplain Kibben an opportunity to comment on two recent controversies involving Navy chaplains: a lawsuit by Jason Heap, as he seeks to become a “humanist chaplain” in the military, and the firing and subsequent exoneration of Chaplain (LtCmdr) Wes Modder over alleged comments regarding sexuality.

Regarding Heap, the article notes he and Jason Torpy’s MAAF rely upon the fact around 23% of the US military list “no religious preference” in their religious identification as support for their claim that atheists/humanists require their own chaplain. As has been discussed here several times before, this is a misleading Read more

Homosexuals: “Shame, shame, shame” on Liberty University for Denying Military Tuition Discount

The homosexual advocacy group American Military Partner Association tried mightily to cause an outcry after Liberty University refused to give a military spouse discount to a homosexual “wife” of a female service member. On spouseBuzz, a subsidiary of Military.com, a homosexual woman described as “Army spouse Janay” was denied the discount and said

Liberty’s response has actually hurt my feelings a little bit. We are all equal no matter what and after speaking with a representative from Liberty I don’t feel as if we are all equal. I kind of feel like an outsider…

The AMPA amped up the rhetoric, with Ashley Broadway-Mack saying  Read more

Former USAF Commander Predicts Exodus of Integrity, Courage

Tony Carr, a retired USAF Squadron Commander who is now a frequent public critic of the Air Force, wrote a piece on his John Q. Public blog excoriating Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh for the Air Force’s “new” attitude toward privacy. Carr quotes what he describes as the objectionable portion of Gen Welsh’s statement [emphasis added]:

We’ve captured the Air Force’s culture and standards in AFI 1-1. We all know 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on and off-duty, Airmen have signed up to live up to Air Force Standards and Core Values. Through all the different ways in which Airmen communicate and interact, respect and dignity are essential. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in person, by text, twitter, or the latest social media app, we are all personally accountable for what we say and post.

Carr objects to the implication that the Air Force will hold Airmen accountable for everything they say, even privately, with the only standard being vague Read more

Generals Call on US Military to Allow Sikhs to Serve

A coalition of 27 retired General officers signed a letter (PDF) urging the US Department of Defense to allow Sikhs to serve in the US military. Currently, Sikhs must abandon the articles of their faith — including uncut hair, beards, and turbans — before they can join the military:

Although Sikhs have served honorably in the U.S. military since World War I, restrictive appearance regulations adopted in 1981 created barriers to their service. Revisions earlier this year to DOD Instruction 1300.17 make it possible for service members to request religious accommodations; however, the new guidelines presumptively exclude Sikh articles of faith, forcing Sikhs to repeatedly apply for waivers and even violate their religion while an accommodation request is pending.

One of the notable signatures on the letter is Read more

1 … 8 9 10 11 12 … 58