Tag Archives: robert caslen

Weinstein Admits Error, “Endorses” Caslen for West Point Supe

Contrary to a prior prediction that Michael Weinstein would seethe at the thought of LtGen Robert Caslen taking the helm as Superintendent of West Point, it seems Weinstein has chosen to do the complete opposite:

I am pleased to announce that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation fully endorses the United States Senate’s confirmation of the President’s nomination of Lt. General Robert Caslen to the position of Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

If only it were that simple.  The “endorsement” (cross-posted) is a veritable portrait in self-contradiction and capriciousness.  Weinstein says he is “pleased,” but later says he has “non-trivial trepidation” — yet also “wishes him well.”  Demonstrating both his repetitive redundancy and intellectual inconsistency, Weinstein says he has no idea what Caslen will “actually do,” but “he incontrovertibly deserves and merits [sic] the chance to do it.”

During Gen Caslen’s involvement in the Christian Embassy controversy in 2006, Weinstein said those involved in the scandal were equivalent to al Qaida, Iraqi militant Muqtada al Sadr, and deserved to be court-martialed.  Two years later, Weinstein Read more

Christian General to Lead West Point

The Department of Defense recently announced that President Obama has nominated a new Superintendent for the US Military Academy at West Point:

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta announced today that the President has made the following nominations:

Army Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr., for reappointment to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment as superintendent, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.  Caslen is currently serving as chief, Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, Iraq.

LtGen Caslen has had a long and distinguished career, which began when he graduated West Point in 1975 and includes a tour as the West Point commandant of cadets.  He is also a Christian, Read more

Christian Officer Commands Combined Arms Center

LtGen Robert Caslen assumed command of Fort Leavenworth, home of the US Army Combined Arms Center, this week.  (Caslen recently returned from a year-long deployment to Iraq, and he pinned on his third star just prior to the assumption of command.)  Home of 16 US Army professional military schools and centers, the CAC is the “intellectual center of the Army” and is responsible for much of the professional training of US Army leaders.  It is also now creating a Mission Command center of excellence to focus on battle command and future Army leader needs.  The CAC website says

CAC provides Army-wide leadership and supervision for leader development and professional military and civilian education; institutional and collective training; functional training; training support; battle command; doctrine; lessons learned; and other specified areas that the TRADOC Commander designates.

All of these are focused toward making CAC a catalyst for change and to support the development of a relevant and ready ground force to support joint, interagency and multinational operations anywhere in the world.

Now an influential military leader, LtGen Caslen is a model of professional success and Christian officership.

Military Non-Theists want Protective Regs

UPDATED 14 November 2008 

When they say ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’ it’s slanderous…

As noted at the Stars and Stripes, the Secular Coalition for America held a news conference demanding new regulations to “protect young military members from…rampant religious discrimination in the services.”

In their press release, the Secular Coalition notes that one atheist military officer was “thwarted” in his attempt to lodge a complaint against a General officer who “opined that there were ‘no atheists in foxholes.'”  The officer “contends this statement qualifies as unlawful discrimination under current Army regulations.”

As with some other complaints of religious issues in the military, the Coalition maintains that the perpetrators are Read more

Weinstein Blasts Commandant’s Assignment

In a typically scathing commentary, Mr. Michael Weinstein lambasted the move of General Caslen, currently Commandant at West Point, to lead an infantry division out of Hawaii.  Caslen was one of several flag officers who appeared on a Christian Embassy video investigated by the Inspector General last year (previous post).

Expanding his hyperbolic and alliterative repertoire, Weinstein called this a “tragic trifecta of travesty” and likened the General to Iraqi militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr.  He also criticized Caslen’s association with OCF, which he said was a

virulently fundamentalist Christian organization devoted to gaining unconstitutional control of the U.S. armed forces…

As with everything else, Weinstein has promised to add this to his ongoing lawsuit (in fact, he said it would go to the “head of the list”).

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