Tag Archives: marines

Navy Secretary Appears to Equate Gay “Heroism” with Medal of Honor

mabus2Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has “raised a few eyebrows” recently, according to the Associated Press, when he’s chosen some unusual people for whom to name US Navy vessels (previously noted here):

Why, critics questioned, would he name a ship in honor of the late gay rights leader Harvey Milk or after former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when there are plenty of military heroes to choose from?

The answer? Mabus says he’s trying to “connect” people with the US Navy and Marine Corps by highlighting “heroism” outside of the naval services.

Retired VAdm Doug Crowder noted Mabus had the “right” to name the ships, but Read more

Mikey Weinstein May Meet Mike the Knight

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has launched blistering attacks at Peterson Air Force Base recently, as an Air Force Colonel investigated her subordinate — at Weinstein’s behest — but, much to his dismay and disgust, found nothing wrong with the Bible on the officer’s desk.

With the salvos being launched at their Airmen, perhaps Peterson’s leadership should introduce Weinstein to another Mike: the 21st Space Wing’s mascot, Mike the Knight:

miketheknight4Mike the Knight has been personified by different people over the years (and he was the Iron Knight a few years ago). Currently, the chain mail is filled by the aptly named SSgt Gary Christensen:  Read more

First Liberty: Supreme Court Must Review Sterling Bible Case

Kelly Shackelford of the First Liberty Institute wrote at the National Review that the US Supreme Court needs to review the case of court-martialed former US Marine Monifa Sterling:

Americans serving in the military lost some of their rights earlier this month when the military’s highest court ruled that a Marine has no rights under an important religious freedom law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

Shackelford explained where he believed the appeals court improperly diverged from the appropriate application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act:  Read more

Precedent? Bible-Quoting Court-Martialed Marine’s Conviction Upheld

Monifa Sterling was court-martialed by the US Marine Corps for a variety of charges. One was failure to obey an order, when she refused after being told to remove three print-outs of a paraphrased Bible verse from her desk.

With the help of the First Liberty Institute, Sterling appealed to the highest military court, the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, on the basis that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act protected her religious exercise. (Despite some ignorant mockery from Mikey Weinstein’s Chris Rodda, the remaining charges for which she was convicted were not appealed, meaning her Bad Conduct Discharge wasn’t going to change.)

In a 4-1 ruling (PDF), the court upheld her conviction on that charge.

One interesting result was the court seemed unanimous in its “reject[ion]” of the logic used by the lower court, the US Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, which said (PDF) the order to remove the signs was  Read more

US Marines Ground all F/A-18s Following Crashes

The US Marine Corps ordered a safety stand down for all units of its (non-deployed) F/A-18s following a spate of Hornet crashes over the past few weeks:

The stand-down will provide “an operational pause for all [Marine Air Wings] not including deployed units,” said Capt. Sarah Burns, a spokesman for the Marines.

The pause will last one day and will be taken in the next seven days, Burns said. It will allow units to “discuss best practices and to look at ways to continue to improve,” she said.

Perhaps morbidly, the crashes appear to be creating Read more

Second F/A-18C Crashes in Nevada in as Many Weeks

Another F/A-18C, this one flown by the Navy (though on loan from the Marines), has crashed. The pilot ejected safely:

An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Wing Pacific, Detachment Fallon, crashed into an open field near Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, at approximately 10:50 a.m. PDT. The Navy pilot, who is assigned to Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center, ejected safely from the aircraft…

This follows the crash last week of a Marine F/A-18 that Read more

The Bible Stays: US Marines Tell Mikey Weinstein to Pound Sand

In early July Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s MRFF lodged a complaint with US Marine Corps’ Camp Hansen (one of seven Marine Corps camps on Okinawa), alleging that the presence of a Bible on a POW/MIA remembrance table constituted a “blatant violation of the Constitution.” This complaint followed the MRFF-inspired removal of Bibles from similar displays at four VA facilities and Wright-Patterson AFB (a removal which prompted Chaplain Sonny Hernandez to “replace” it by distributing Bibles to local Airmen).

The Marines, however, were not so forthcoming.

In an undated letter (PDF) just released by the MRFF, Camp Commander Brian Howlett told the MRFF the display would stay just like it is, thank you very much:  Read more

Marine F-18 Crashes in California, Pilot Killed

nortonThe US Marine Corps reported that Maj. Richard “Stranger” Norton died last week when his F/A-18C Hornet crashed in southern California. His unit was reportedly in training for an upcoming deployment. The news releases called for prayers for his family without further detail.

Articles reporting on the crash highlighted the Marine Corps’ concern that their pilots aren’t receiving sufficient training hours due to budget constraints, causing them to lose “proficiency,” though not technically be unsafe.

Though often taken for granted, Read more

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