Tag Archives: Iraq

Times Mischaracterizes Camp David Chaplain

The Times of London online published an article on Chaplain (Lt Cdr) Carey Cash, the US Navy Chaplain at Camp David, the Presidential retreat. 

The article appeared to rely heavily (if not exclusively) on the Washington Post article on the same subject the day before, though it took a far more provocative tone.  It was entitled “‘Islam is violent’ says President Obama’s new pastor Carey Cash,” which is inaccurate on more than one level, and it attempted to emphasize what it claimed were Cash’s controversial beliefs.  (FoxNews repeated the article with the headline “Obama’s New Pastor Views Islam as Violent Faith.”)

First, it likened Obama’s link to Chaplain Cash with his experience with Reverend Wright: Read more

Navy Chaplain Delivers Presidential Sermons

The Washington Post revisits the background of Navy Chaplain (Lt Cdr) Carey Cash, the Chaplain for the Evergreen Chapel on Camp David, the Presidential retreat.  Previously, Time momentarily called the Chapel the Obama’s “home church,” which lit off a firestorm of controversy and denials.  The current article takes the more cryptic form in describing the situation as “The Pastor Who Has Obama’s Attention.”

Much of the article describes Cash’s background, including his time in combat in Iraq and his book, A Table in the Presence.  It includes a short description of what the author calls “Cash’s controversial views on Christian proselytizing Read more

Chaplain Honored for Serving All

Chaplain (Maj.) Bradley West, a US Army Chaplain, was presented with the Gen. Methodej Kuban Medal by Chaplain Mirek Jordanek, Chaplain for the Czech unit stationed at Forward Operating Base Shank in Afghanistan.

The award was named for a Czechoslovakian Catholic chaplain killed in Auschwitz in World War II, who encouraged believers of all denominations to worship together.

As has been noted many times before, there is a shortage of Catholic Chaplains in the Armed Forces.  Chaplain West, a Protestant, was fulfilling his duties to see to the spiritual needs of all of his troops when he Read more

Chaplain Serves in Dirty Jobs

An Air Force Chaplain in Iraq has drawn the attention of his fellow servicemembers for his willingness to struggle, strain, and sweat right alongside them.

In the Air Force news release (“Chaplain Veers From Straight, Narrow Care”), Chaplain (Capt.) Chad Montgomery has worked under Humvees, helped mix cement with civil engineers, and has even been the “criminal” attack dummy for military working dogs.

He notes that some people (both in and out of the military) may have the wrong perception about what a Chaplain does: 

“I don’t think people realize or know what your job is unless they do it,” the chaplain said. “I think people just think chaplains play with flannel graphs or something, just tell Sunday school stories.  Read more

Air Force Graduates First non-Pilot Pilots

The Air Force has graduated its first class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) pilots that included officers who had never attended Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT).  That is, they are the first UAV pilots who were not formerly a pilot of some other military aircraft.  The class was composed of 10 pilots and 9 sensor operators.  Eight of the pilots were non-aviators; there is a second similar class in training behind them.

The increasing demand for UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan–as well as the desire to keep military pilots in cockpits–led to the “experiment”  Read more

Israeli Fighter Pilot Killed in Crash

Various news outlets (including CNN and Fox) reported that Israeli Defense Force Lt. Assaf Ramon died in an F-16 crash on Sunday.  (The Lieutenant was posthumously promoted to Captain.)  The Israel National News reports speculation that sounds much like a G-LOC.  The aircraft was an F-16A, an older version of the American-made fighter; the crash appears to have occurred during his F-16 training, just a few months after he received his wings from basic pilot training.

Ramon was reported as being either 20 or 21 years old, both of which are young by American standards.  Based on entering college Read more

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