Tag Archives: regulation

Mikey Weinstein Demands Punishment for Special Forces Chaplains

Update: The Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — a homosexual advocacy group largely friendly to Mikey Weinstein’s mission — asked for input on this story on their Facebook page.  Between the normal invective and banter were two significant comments:

From Chaplain Gil Richardson, who said:

Chaplains desiring to go through SFQC or Ranger School submit a request for exception to policy to conduct training with weapons thru a Chaplain Channels in order to attend the training. If approved for either course, the Chaplain endures the same hardships and challenges. If he graduates and is awarded the tab (in the case of SF Chaplains assigned to SF units, he also is awarded the Green Beret), then they do have much more credibility in the special units…

Back in the early and mid 90s, the [Ranger Training Brigade] Chaplain had to be “tabbed” (graduate of the school). A tabbed Chaplain understood firsthand the stresses of the course and had simply more credibility with students and cadre alike…

Once the training in either course is over, the exception to policy ends. Please do not confuse or equate training in an elite, challenging course with normal practice (no weapon when serving as a Chaplain).

From Chaplain Brian Hargis, who said:

This is an old post that continues to get republished. The last guy (Pete) graduated early 2014. In Jan 2015, SWCS put a stop to all Chaplains and PAs from attending SFAS and the Q Course. It was a waste of $500,000 to train men that would never use the skills.

These comments from two knowledgeable chaplains provide significant background to undermine Mikey Weinstein’s ludicrous calls for punishment of the chaplains.

Earlier in February, the US Army posted an article entitled “Special Forces Tab, Green Beret, SFQC — A vehicle for Chaplains,” in which it discussed three chaplains who have completed Army Special Forces training. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein — a self-declared advocate for military religious freedom — took issue in a formal complaint (PDF) to the Army [underlining original]:  Read more

Military Atheists Rally Around the Crossbuster

As noted before, some atheists, like many political or social activists, can sometimes become so engrossed in their presumed persecution they see offense where none exists.

Military atheists, for example, took a General officer to task when she made the fairly benign statement that military service requires you to believe in things “bigger than yourself.”  They derided a US military Chaplain for describing his duties as required by regulation.  In both cases, statements were attributed to the officers they didn’t actually say — it was just what the atheists thought they heard — a perception apparently skewed by an assumption of persecution.  Most recently, atheists brought up an old story about a Navy atheist who was “forced to permanently cover” a tattoo.  CTR2 Michael Wheeler had the logo of the band Bad Religion, the “crossbuster,” tattooed on his arm where it was visible, even in uniform:

Naturally, there was much consternation and implication of persecution on the part of the atheists.  In the end, a few who commented did correctly note a Read more

US Army Eliminates “Moral Character” as Requirement for Service

The US Army recently published an updated version of Army Regulation 601-210, Active and Reserve Components Enlistment Program.  The new version, dated 8 February 2011, makes an interesting change.  From the list of revisions at the front of the regulation:

Changes all references of “moral qualification or waiver” to “conduct qualification or waiver” (throughout).

The words “moral character,” a mainstay of the prior version, now occur only one time in the entire publication.  Unfortunately, it appears to have been implemented with a simple “find and replace” of the word “moral.”  For example, where it once said:  Read more