Afghan insurgents dressed in US Army uniforms broke the lines at Camp Bastion/Camp Leatherneck and managed to destroy 6 US Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers and damage an additional 2.
They’ve never managed to shoot one down, but they became a (ground) ace in a day.
The attack killed two Marines and wounded nine coalition forces, with 14 militants killed and one captured.
US Marines at Camp Leatherneck recently hosted a “Faith in Combat Leadership” breakfast to “get back in touch with their religion.”
“The purpose of (the breakfast) was to Read more
The Navy announced that a US Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornet crashed on Fallon range on Saturday.
The pilot ejected safely from the aircraft and was treated at Banner Churchill Community Hospital in Fallon for minor injuries and has been released.
A US military press release highlights Marine Lance Cpl Malike Mejdouli, a “devout Muslim” who fasted even while in combat in Afghanistan. It was not without impact:
“You just have to deal with it,” said Mejdouli about practicing his faith. “I was sick for like five days out here while fasting, throwing up and everything.”
In many discussions on Islam, soldiers are generally exempt from fasting. Mejdouli notes he couldn’t fast last year because he was in basic training. USAFA cadets Read more
Though a couple of critics are claiming that non-religious events are disfavored in the US military, and at Camp Pendleton, it turns out the Marines recently hosted an entire (non-religious) summer camp just for kids:
Marine Corps Community Services started their first day of the four day class of Camp Camo for the summer at the Paige Fieldhouse on Camp Pendleton, July 31.
Camp Camo is a youth summer camp where children seven to 11-years-old learn about nutrition, exercise and how to stay healthy during the summer months.
The kids learned about healthy eating, physical activity, and had Read more
The Marine Corps has been emphasizing ethics as part of General James Amos’ intent to reach “every single Marine” on the topic of ethical conduct. In one case, at least, the sessions seem to be versions of college philosophy classes, with a drill down on each of the standard ethical “examples” used in most ethics courses:
Bardorf and Rowan guided the Marines through the murder of Kitty Genovese. They discussed the Good Samaritan Experiment held by the Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Stanford Read more
How many data points does it take to prove a trend?
Michael Weinstein has, yet again, shown that his “religious freedom” organization is concerned primarily with encouraging the government to restrict religious freedom based on the content of peoples’ religious beliefs in relation to the US military:
American Atheists Inc., the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, in an Aug. 6 letter to Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, argued the Marine Corps base has denied them equal treatment by first stalling and then denying their requests for access…
“We are disturbed that the government is giving such extensive support, including assets, resources and personnel, to a single sect of Christianity,” the three groups wrote in their letter to Mabus. “Even more troubling is the ‘doomsday’ nature of the CCCM. … The last thing Camp Pendleton needs is a large group of well-armed Marines convinced of an imminent doomsday crisis.”
Notice the groups give lip service to the issue of “governmental preference,” but they focus on the content of the religious beliefs. Those beliefs aren’t just crazy — because crazy is still permissible — the critics claim the beliefs are dangerous.
That’s been a common theme of Weinstein’s for years — with every Read more
The demand by Jason Torpy, speaking for the one-man Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, that the US Marine Corps remove its “Christian privilege” (the crosses on Camp Pendleton‘s ridge on Camp Horno) has spurred a “wider review” of similar memorials around the world:
Capt. Greg Wolf at the Pentagon headquarters of the Marine Corps said Thursday that an “operational planning team” is conducting Read more