Tag Archives: ncls

Air Force Colonel David Murphy on Chick-fil-A and USAFA

Responding to the effort by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein to ban Chick-fil-A’s Rodney Bullard from speaking at the US Air Force Academy’s 2019 NCLS, retired Air Force Colonel David Murphy penned an interesting piece at the Defense Post.

Citing a public complaint by USAFA professor Craig Foster (of DFBL, the behavioral sciences department) over alleged Chick-fil-A views on marriage, Murphy said [emphasis added]

Despite Foster’s shockingly shallow argument, I’d like to focus on the one good thing he did cover…Dr. Foster said: “Lt. General Silveria sent a clear message when he told cadets, “If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out.”

Let’s focus on the general’s quote, and not Foster’s Read more

Mikey Weinstein Gets Owned by USAFA in NCLS Complaint

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein has complained that the US Air Force Academy has invited Rodney Bullard to be one of its speakers at its annual National Character and Leadership Symposium. Bullard graduated from USAFA in 1996 and served as a JAG — not unlike Weinstein himself.

The NCLS is scheduled to occur next week.

The reason Weinstein objects is Bullard is Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility for Chick-fil-A.

Weinstein wrote an email to LtGen Jay Silveria, the USAFA Superintendent, demanding Bullard’s invitation be rescinded because it was Read more

USAFA Hosts Transgenders at Character Symposium

Last week, the US Air Force Academy hosted its annual National Character and Leadership Symposium. Superintendent LtGen Jay Silveria — fresh off his “diversity” Op-Ed — noted that diversity was a large part of this year’s NCLS as well:

[Silveria said] the Air Force Academy’s appreciation for diversity and its willingness to respectfully address controversy make the school stronger…

The theme of the event is “Ethics and Respect for Human Dignity, a topic Silveria called “timely and pertinent.”

USAFA’s opening press release noted speakers at the NCLS included Dr. Ruth Read more

Christian Soldier Col Greg Gadson Addresses USAFA Character Symposium

The US Air Force Academy recently hosted its 2017 National Character and Leadership Symposium, and its keynote speaker was a retired US Army Colonel — and outspoken Christian:

Retired Army Col. Greg Gadson said he’s grateful to be alive…Gadson lost his legs after his armored vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad in May 2007…

“I remember rolling to a stop, lying on my back and just asking God not to let me die here. Then I was unconscious.”

At a 2013 prayer breakfast at Fort Lee, Col Gadson has said the IED attack was a “test of faith” — and one that ultimately turned his life around:  Read more

President Trump Nominates Heather Wilson for Secretary of the Air Force

President Donald Trump has nominated former US Rep Heather Wilson (R-NM) to be the next Secretary of the Air Force. Wilson is a 1982 distinguished graduate of the US Air Force Academy, was a Rhodes Scholar, and served with the National Security Council before being elected to the House of Representatives.  She would be the first USAFA graduate to be Secretary of the Air Force.  Compared with other recent Service Secretaries, her foreign policy, elected office, and military service credentials are rather impressive.

Like many of Trump’s nominees, Wilson’s name is less well-known. Generally speaking, she appears to lean conservative as a Republican.  Some reports indicate she is a Methodist, a denomination that runs the spectrum of belief.

Still, Wilson’s name should be familiar: As detailed here, Heather Read more

USAFA NCLS: Transgenders, Medals of Honor, and Chick-fil-A

The US Air Force Academy National Character and Leadership Symposium has become an annual Who’s Who of military and national celebrities — and rarely does it shy away from controversy.

Last week, attendees were able to hear from, among others:

  • Aaron Belkin, homosexual advocate, speak on repealing the transgender ban
  • Chaplain (MajGen) Dondi Costin, Air Force Chief of Chaplains, on “Go Pro or Go Home”
  • US Army SSgt Salvatore Giunta, Medal of Read more

Liberty Institute Responds to MRFF Attack

At the beginning of March Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s research assistant, Chris Rodda, posted a lengthy* diatribe that attempted to parse a talk given by the Liberty Institute’s Kelly Shackelford to USAFA cadets during the 2014 NCLS.

Apparently upset that Shackelford was there at all, the MRFF surreptitiously recorded his speech and Rodda attempted to dissect it, labeling it “fear and misinformation.”

The Liberty Institute’s Michael Berry recently responded, essentially noting that Rodda was uninformed, and therefore incorrect, on pretty much every point:

The problem is that Rodda lacks first-hand knowledge (i.e., the real facts) of the matters on which she opined. As an attorney, I can tell you that the law has a strong preference for first-hand knowledge and knowing the true evidence. And because Shackelford was an attorney in nearly every one of the cases he mentioned, he knows the actual facts of each of those cases.

Rodda’s original piece garnered almost no attention, as she Read more

Mike Farrell Gets Standing Ovation at USAFA

Of the dozens of speakers who addressed the National Character and Leadership Symposium at the US Air Force Academy last week, the local Colorado Springs Gazette highlighted just one: former MASH star Mike Farrell (previously discussed).

Actor and activist Mike Farrell said he gave his usual, well-honed speech.

He focused on human dignity, derided the death penalty and the Iraq war, and described American tactics against alleged terrorists as “drone murder.”

…the audience that gave him a standing ovation…  Read more

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