Chaplains in the US Marine Corps are actually officers in the US Navy. Chaplain (LtCmdr) Mark Tews comments on the importance of chaplains to his Marines:
“If a Marine is having a bad day and needs a place to go and to feel safe and talk about any issues, the chaplain is always there for them,” he explained. “For Marines, this is a place of sanctuary where they don’t have to worry about anything and can talk with the chaplain about anything.”
The Stars and Stripes notes the US Navy has “sacked” 150 commanding officers over the last few years for misconduct. Of 80 instances over a five year period, half were for adultery, inappropriate relationships, harassment, or sexual assault. One of the solutions noted: Take a look at the Bible.
So how can the Navy abate this steady tide of offending COs? Perhaps by asking, “What would David do?”
That’s King David, he of Old Testament legend Read more
Admiral James A. Lyons (Retired) served as the commander of the US Navy’s Pacific fleet when he retired in 1987. Since then, he has frequently spoken on the military and foreign policy issues, mincing few words when he has done so. He is an associate in the production of Sharia: The Threat to America, which includes James Woolsey and LtGen (Ret) Jerry Boykin among its contributors.
Most recently, Adm Lyons took President Obama to task for forcing the US military to submit to Islam:
The recent contrived uproar over the inadvertent burning of the Koran…should be seen for what it is: a power-play tactic to make our military forces more submissive to the dictates of Islam, Read more
The Air Force has issued a “stop work” on the airship known as the Blue Devil, which was to be an “optionally manned surveillance” dirigible. This is interpreted as the lead-in to the demise of the program.
The Blue Devil 2 was considered to be a herald of next-generation persistent intelligence collection with a potential endurance of more than nine days. Depending on the duration of the mission, the airship would have been able to carry 2,500 pounds of surveillance equipment for five days, or 7,500 pounds if the sortie was shortened to three days.
The CEO of Mav6, Blue Devils’ creator, is David Deptula — formerly LtGen Deptula, deputy chief of staff for ISR and an unusually fervent advocate for UAVs. It seems he found his civilian calling. The Navy was also researching similar airships. In an interesting bit of timing, their program just got extended.
The cancellation may render moot Michael Weinstein’s likely offense at the religious reference in the aircraft’s name…
Prominent Milblogger Blackfive had the privilege of attending a Hollywood premiere of Act of Valor. In his write up, he made an interesting observation:
Two friends of mine, SEALs and Christian brothers, Clint Bruce and Jeff Bramstedt have created and produced a men’s bible study modeled on the SEAL Code and using the film as a demonstration tool. It can be found online at Life of Valor.
The Life of Valor site has an amazing set of videos (25 minutes total, but available in smaller portions) in their resources that use the experience of the Navy SEALs and apply it to living a life of faith. The videos are worth your time.
Via Maggie’s Notebook.
US Sailors deployed to Korea helped support the Aikwangwon orphanage on Koje Island in the Republic of Korea earlier this month. The orphanage has been ongoing for approximately 60 years, started by Kim Im-soon, a Christian convert from her family’s tradition of Confucianism.
“The Navy volunteers did in one day what would have taken over two months to accomplish,” said Kim.
The US servicemen then did what they famously do so well: They played with the kids.
Sailors split up to interact with the residents and children Read more
US Navy Chaplain (CAPT) Steve Brown was once an enlisted Marine. He wanted to serve as a Chaplain, but there are no Marine chaplains — they’re in the Navy. So that’s what he joined. He has served for 32 years, and his peer chaplains have recognized that service in recommending him for a servant leadership award.
The John H. Craven Servant Leadership Award is a peer-nominated award that acknowledges the significant Read more
The Thomas More Law Center has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Center for Military Readiness:
The purpose of the lawsuit is to obtain records believed to show intentional deception by the Pentagon to gain congressional support for repeal of the 1993 law regarding open homosexual conduct in the military, usually called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The TMLC alleges the Pentagon has
engaged in a pattern of deception in its efforts to persuade Congress to allow open homosexuality in our military.
The lawsuit centers around the premise the Pentagon leaked information to the Washington Post in 2010 to sway public opinion and Congress Read more