As widely expected, President Obama took Secretary of Defense Gates’ recommendation and nominated Marine General James Amos for the position of Commandant of the Marine Corps. Speculation over why the fighter pilot was chosen over other officers, including the General now nominated to head CENTCOM, General James Mattis, have largely died out.
As largely expected, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has given the name of General James Amos to President Obama as his recommendation for the next Commandant of the Marine Corps.
As more organizations and commenters discuss the supposed recommendation by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to nominate General James Amos as the next Commandant of the Marine Corps, there is speculation that his views on “Don’t ask, don’t tell” played a role. The current Commandant, General James Conway, was the most forcefully outspoken against the repeal of DADT among the Service Chiefs.
The speculation appears to attempt to explain why Amos, an aviator who would head the Marines during what is largely a ground war, was chosen over the “leading contender,” Read more
A variety of news sources are reporting that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will submit the name of current Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Amos as the next Commandant of the Marine Corps. Interestingly, Amos’ appointment would break Marine Corps tradition because he is a fighter pilot (much like the appointment of General Norton Schwartz — a cargo pilot — broke the Air Force tradition of fighter and bomber pilots).
General James Amos is also a Christian.
In 2009, Gen Amos was one of several speakers at the Capitol Hill celebration of the National Day of Prayer. In his remarks he was unequivocal about his faith and the power of prayer in his military life: Read more
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has called for a filibuster of the Defense Authorization Act, which currently has an amendment repealing the federal law banning homosexuals from serving in the US military:
“I’ve never known of a better excuse for a filibuster than to stop the Congress of the United States from essentially destroying the greatest military force our nation has ever known.”
Each of the four military service chiefs has expressed opposition to what is described as a “compromise” over DADT repeal; Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen’s position is Read more
A report from CNS News says that military Chaplains and servicemembers are being “muzzled” with respect to their views on DADT:
Arthur Schultz [sic, Schulcz], a former Army chaplain who now is legal counsel to the National Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers, told reporters that servicemen overseas have been told not to speak in support of DADT.
“One of the chaplains…spoke to me, who recently came back from overseas from a major command, and he said that the word is out to chaplains: don’t speak about this and particularly, don’t raise issues about why you can’t support it,” [Schulcz] told reporters. “And so that’s the unofficial, ‘official’ language to say, ‘Keep your mouth shut, or else.'”
Tony Perkins, the disinvited former Marine and president of the Family Research Council, supported that assessment and said “many” on active duty also oppose Read more
Many distinguished (and some undistinguished) speakers come to the US Air Force Academy to speak to the cadet wing. Sometimes these speeches are done during a military training period within the school day; others are delivered in the evening.
A time-honored tradition at the US Air Force Academy is the presentation to those speakers (most, but not all) with a statuette of the USAFA mascot, the falcon. After the speaker concludes their remarks, a cadet leader enters the stage and thanks the speaker for their wise words. As he holds the statuette aloft, he then says that on behalf of the cadet wing, he would like to present the speaker with…
…and the entire wing shouts out: The Bird!
It is an interesting and entertaining example of both stereotypical Read more
Update: The Army announced that General Mixon will not be reprimanded.
LtGen Benjamin R. Mixon, commanding general of US Army Pacific, previously wrote a letter to the editor encouraging servicemembers to “speak up” about their views on the potential repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” His letter was used as the second example of an active duty officer publicly disagreeing with the proposed change, when he said
If those of us who are in favor of retaining the current policy do not speak up, there is no chance to retain the current policy.
This was particularly salient, because, as the General pointed out, there has been little public opposition from those in the military on the topic. (By contrast, present and former members of the military who oppose the ban have been a common item in the media, some in clear violation of military regulations.) The supposition was that military members did disagree, but feared the reaction of the military if they expressed disagreement with their Commander in Chief and senior officers.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who have expressed support for President Obama’s proposal to lift the ban, called General Mixon’s letter “inappropriate“: Read more