Tag Archives: dadt

Commander: Troops Ordered Not to Have Opinion on DADT

According to an ongoing story covered at FoxNews, Utah Air National Guard TSgt Layne Wilson was reprimanded after writing a letter to a West Point chaplain regarding a post-DADT chapel ceremony, which presumably occurred last December.  The text of his letter does not appear to be completely available, but it said in part

Our base chapels are a place of worship and this is a mockery to God and our military core values. I have proudly served 27 years and this is a slap in the face to us who have put our lives on the line for this country. I hope sir that you will take appropriate action so this does not happen again.

Apparently, West Point complained to the Utah Air National Guard, and Wilson’s supervisor gave him a Letter of Reprimand because he

“failed to render the proper respect to a commissioned officer.”

Given that only part of the story is public, it is difficult to fully discuss. On the other hand, another part of the conversation is public and may stand on its own. As noted in a memo from LtCol Kevin Tobias, 130th Engineering Installation Squadron commander, following this incident [emphasis added]:

“We talked about his feelings about DADT and Read more

Former Marine Pilot Opposes Religious Freedom Bill

Pentagon spokesman Nate Christensen stressed that the Defense Department celebrates religious diversity and that military personnel have the full right to exercise their religious beliefs, as long as doing so does not negatively affect the military’s mission or other individuals’ rights.

Tom Carpenter is a co-chair of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a group that advocated for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — a 1970 US Naval Academy graduate, and a former US Marine A-4 pilot.  He recently came out against religious freedom legislation now supported by the endorsing bodies of the vast majority of US military chaplains.  (Carpenter recently repeated near-verbatim atheist talking points rebutting some of the most recent claims of hostility toward religious freedom in the military.)

In apparent shock, Carpenter said, for example:  Read more

Marines Allow Uniforms in “Pride” Parade, DoD Quantifies Homosexuals

The US Marine Corps permitted its members to wear their uniforms in the San Diego homosexual “pride” parade.

As noted at the Air Force Times,

According to the Pentagon, an estimated 5,600 active-duty troops and 3,400 National Guard and Reserve members are in same-sex marriages and relationships.

Notably, in the run-up to DADT repeal, the Department of Defense had repeatedly said it would not attempt to quantify the sexuality of US troops.  From the Support Plan for Implementation

The Department of Defense and the Services should continue their policy against requesting, collecting, or maintaining information about the sexual orientation of Service members.

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DoD Celebrates SCOTUS Ruling on Homosexuality

The Department of Defense issued a plethora of statements celebrating the Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which had prevented the Federal government from recognizing homosexual “marriage.”  The ruling paves the way for the US military to provide marital benefits to homosexual couples.

In an initial statement, the DoD “welcomed” the ruling and said  Read more

Bill Seeks to Modify Discharges under DADT

US Rep Chuck Rangel (D-NY) has proposed legislation to “upgrade” the discharge status of those servicemembers who were kicked out of the military for being homosexual while it was illegal.

All servicemembers discharged because of sexual orientation would receive a “timely, consistent and transparent” review, and those who served honorably would see their records upgraded.   Any indication of a servicemember’s sexual orientation would be struck Read more

Atheist Supports Restricting Military Religious Freedom

Update: Former Marine pilot Tom Carpenter of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a liberal activist group — largely repeated the list below a few weeks later, though he did so without attribution.

Jason Torpy, the one-man band that is the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently posted a point-by-point refutation of recent accusations of the US military being hostile to Christianity.

Much of his disagreement was nuance or the way in which something was phrased, which isn’t worth discussing here.  The interesting ones, though, were the cases in which he agreed with the US military’s “anti-Christian” actions:

January 2010 — Department of Defense orders removal of tiny Bible references on military scopes and gunsights.
Torpy: True and appropriate.

This issue has been discussed before.  While there is no religious requirement the references remain, the fact they were targeted because of their (obscure) religious reference — only after Michael Weinstein complained, notably — is troubling.  That he would seek this Read more

The Transgender Push for Equality Begins

From the Huffington Post:

As the combat exclusion for women comes to an end and open service for gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans edges closer to truly equal service, it becomes more and more obvious that there is no longer any rational basis on which to bar qualified transgender people from serving in our armed forces…

If “valor knows no gender” …and if men and women really can be accommodated simultaneously under close combat conditions without a negative impact on war-fighting ability, then there is no reason other than prejudice for the transgender exclusion to remain.

The author, Allyson D. Robinson of the homosexual military advocacy group OutServe-SLDN, uses familiar phrases to justify his argument:  Read more

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