Free Republic

Are these senior officers being ‘shown the door’ deliberately? These occurrences are very unsettling. We’ll just have to wait for the scuttlebutt I guess. Let’s just pray no dishonor is coming to them from the Communist-in-Chief. This strange chain of firings from the Military is so bizarre and so unheard of that even Dianne Sawyer of ABC news reached out to cover it when the 9th, yes 9th, Military Commanding Officer was relieved of duty in less than a year. This doesn’t include the long list last year, this is just the nine individuals this year alone.

Article may not be posted per FR posting rules (Gannett). Link to the article here. Synopsis: The linkage was yet another example of an over-eager National Guard EEO briefing.

“The instructor said AFA could be considered a hate group because they don’t like gays,” the soldier told me. “The slide was talking about how AFA refers to gays as sinners and heathens and derogatory terms.” The soldier, who is an evangelical Christian, said the chaplain defended the Christian ministry. “He kept asking the instructor, ‘Are you sure about that, son? Are you sure about that?’” he said, recalling the back and forth. Later in the briefing, the soldiers were reportedly told that they could face punishment for participating in organizations that are considered hate groups. That considered, the soldier...

In the wake of the government shutdown, despite provisions in the Pay Our Military Act, Catholics at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia are being denied religious services. The Catholic priest who serves this community has been prohibited from even volunteering to celebrate Holy Mass without pay, and was told that if he violated that order, he could be subject to arrest. Protestant services continue to take place. Only Catholic services have been shutdown.

My heart is just sick over this. The Pentagon just admitted that those heart-rending “arrival ceremonies” at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, wherein an honor guard carries off a cargo plane the flag-draped coffins supposedly containing the remains of soldiers killed in battle ARE ALL STAGED. The coffins are empty. Even the cargo planes are fake — they don’t fly. ~Eowyn (Just phony theater: An honor detail comprised of joint military members prepares to escort the remains of fallen servicemembers who died during World War II and the Vietnam War during an arrival ceremony April 26, 2013, hosted by...

The Air Force removed Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, a 35-year veteran, from his command of 20th Air Force, responsible for all 450 of the service's intercontinental ballistic missiles. Carey, who took his post in Wyoming in June 2012, will be reassigned pending the outcome of an investigation into personal misbehavior, the service said. The Air Force would not specify what Carey is alleged to have done wrong, but two officials with knowledge of the investigation indicated that it was linked to alcohol use.

<p>A "very disturbed" President Obama has ordered his top aides to restore death benefits today for families of military service members killed in action.</p> <p>"The president was very disturbed to learn of this problem," said White House press secretary Jay Carney. "The president expects this to be fixed today. He was not pleased."</p>

Father Ray Leonard, a Catholic priest who serves a Georgia military base, was not allowed to celebrate mass at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay this weekend. “Shutdown: No Catholic service till further notice,” a sign posted on the chapel said. Leonard — who is contracted with the Department of Defense to minister the military on the base — is not allowed to work on the base during the federal government shutdown. In fact, the general counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA has warned that — under current law — some military priests under contract could even

There's nothing wrong with the C-27J, it's just that the Pentagon doesn't want it given budget constraints. The Pentagon is sending $50 million cargo planes straight from the assembly line to mothballs because it has no use for them, yet it still hasn’t stopped ordering the aircraft, according to a report. A dozen nearly new Italian-built C-27J Spartans have been shipped to an Air Force facility in Arizona dubbed “the boneyard,” and five more currently under construction are likely headed for the same fate, according to an investigation by the Dayton Daily News. The Air Force has spent $567 million...

Gays and lesbians in the military are running into widespread obstacles as they seek to take advantage of a new Obama administration policy designed to make it easier for same-sex couples in the armed services to get married. The policy, announced with great fanfare at the Pentagon in mid-August, was meant to give same-sex couples up to 10 days’ special leave to get married in the 13 states that allow it — and thus equal access to low-cost health care, base shopping and other benefits available to married couples in the military. But implementation of the policy has caused widespread...

It appears that the Obama administration is violating the First Rule of Holes. Yesterday the administration looked awful when it “closed” and barricaded the World War II memorial on the Mall. The memorial is, by its nature, open. There is nothing to close. --SNIP-- ...these protesters were marching towards the press gaggle and I was asking them to show their federal IDs to prove they were in fact federal workers. No one wore their federal ID and none would provide it to prove their claim. Then, remarkably, a guy carrying a sign passed by wearing a McDonald’s employee shirt, which...

The White House and the Department of the Interior rejected a request from Rep. Steven Palazzo’s office to have World War II veterans visit the World War II memorial in Washington, the Mississippi Republican told The Daily Caller Tuesday. Palazzo helped the veterans commit an act of civil disobedience against the Park Service Tuesday, when the heroes stormed through barricades around the closed memorial.

The Marine Corps officer who filed a complaint against the commandant for intervening in the Taliban urination cases against eight Marines is now the target of reprisals from superiors, his attorney says. Retired Marine Col. Jane Siegel, who is representing Maj. James Weirick, said superiors have subjected the major to retaliations since it became known that he filed a whistleblower complaint against Gen. James Amos, the commandant and Joint Chiefs of Staff member. “Headquarters Marine Corps is undercutting a hero,” Col. Siegel said. “He did the right thing, and they are trying to bury it and him.” Maj. Weirick, a...

Can chaplains committed to historic biblical Christianity serve in the United States military? That question, though inconceivable to our nation’s founders, is now front and center. And the answer to that question will answer another, even more important question: Can religious liberty survive under America’s new moral order? The repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, coupled with the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, set the stage for this crisis. The full normalization of same-sex relationships within the U.S. military is part of the unprecedented moral revolution that is now reshaping American...

In the wake of the shooting at the Navy Yard, Obama spokesman Jay Carney said the president is implementing executive actions and reiterated his commitment to strengthening gun laws, including expanding background checks to sales online and at gun shows.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is proud to announce a new fleet of Class 69 destroyers. Having initially named the first two ships USS Daring and USS Dauntless, the Naming Committee has, after intensive pressure from Congress, renamed them USS Cautious and USS Prudent. The next five ships are to be USS Empathy, USS Circumspect, USS Nervous, USS Timorous and USS Apologist. Costing $850 million each they comply with the very latest employment, equality, health and safety and human rights laws. The U.S. Navy fully expects any future enemy to be decent and to comply with the same high standards...

Conservative critics are blasting the Defense Department for giving gay troops an early wedding gift: up to 10 days uncharged leave time for same-sex marriages.

The U.S. military has reversed a string of decisions that would have restricted access for severely wounded troops to a popular dining hall at Walter Reed hospital, after Fox News began reporting on complaints from veterans and their families. The military earlier this month decided to invalidate meal tickets and reduce hours for the Warrior Cafe, the sole dining facility in building 62 -- home to all multiple amputees and long-term, recovering patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The wife of one of the veterans affected by the decision told Fox News on Thursday that...

The U.S. Air Force said that a well-known drag queen group was invited to perform on base during a “Diversity Day” celebration because drag is a “symbol of gay pride and unity. But the performance sparked outrage among some airmen who called the drag show “totally offensive and inappropriate.” Jewels and the Brunchettes performed to a small crowd at the Los Angeles Air Force Base on Aug. 8, the military confirmed. Photographs provided to Fox News show an individual wearing a giant wig and sporting form-fitting dresses performing to a sparse crowd underneath the American flag. “Drag acts to this...

(Newser) – Now that the Supreme Court has overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, the Pentagon is reviewing a plan that would extend full marriage benefits to same-sex couples by the end of this month, according to a draft memo from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel outlining the proposal obtained yesterday by the AP. In the process, the Defense Department would ditch a previous plan that would have allowed unmarried same-sex couples access to some limited benefits after signing a declaration form. Now, troops will actually need to be legally married to get the benefits, but the military will give...