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Three years after a scandal at the Air Force Academy over the evangelizing of cadets by Christian staff and faculty members, students and staff at West Point and the Naval Academy are complaining that their schools, too, have pushed religion on cadets and midshipmen.

When the moment finally came to meet the most powerful man in the United States, Theodore Shiveley had just two words for him: "Chest bump." As the Richardson 22-year-old's class of Air Force Academy graduates streamed across a stage, many asked President Bush to do something unusual for them. Some stashed pens in their socks so he could sign their hats. One even called his parents and asked the president to say hello on a cellphone. Lt. Shiveley opened his arms and got the president to engage in a hearty chest bump with him. "Hey, it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance," said...

Today, President Bush delivered the Commencement Address at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. This was the 50th graduating class of the Academy. There was some rain during his speech. Following his speech, he posed and “cut up” with some of the graduates and you will love these photos. Transcript The President then traveled to Utah where he will attend two fund raisers on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

The White House says President Bush will liken the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to conditions in Germany and Japan after World War II when he speaks at the Air Force Academy graduation on Wednesday. In excerpts from his prepared remarks released today, Bush said it took time and patience to rebuild those nations, but it paid off when they became prosperous U.S. allies. "And we have reaped the benefits in generations of security and peace," Bush said in the prepared remarks. "Today we must do the same in Afghanistan and Iraq, and by helping these young democracies grow in...

Colorado Springs, Apr 11, 2008 / 04:11 am (CNA).- A seminar at the Air Force Academy that had been organized to discuss religion and war removed several movie clips from its presentation after receiving complaints that the clips were anti-Catholic, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports. A Wednesday seminar on war and religion planned to show clips from “Constantine’s Sword,” a documentary based on a book by James Carroll. Among the complainants was the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Catholic League President Bill Donohue in an April 8 press release called Carroll, a columnist for the Boston Globe, an...

Why return to the Air Force Academy after Winter Break? So after our sunburns have faded and the memories of our winter break have been reduced to pictures we've pinned on our deskboards, and once again we've exchanged T-shirts and swim suits for flight suits and camouflage, there still remains the question that every cadet at U.S.Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has asked themselves at some point: Why did we come back? Why, after spending two weeks with our family would we return to one of the most demanding lifestyles in the country? After listening to our 'friends' who...

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The military is shutting down the Air Force Academy's emergency room and its hospital's inpatient services. Two nearby civilian hospitals have the capacity to take over its more than 100,000 patients, authorities said. The academy will phase out the services starting April 1, The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported. Outpatient services will still be offered. The change comes as the military shifts more of its resources to cope with war casualties. The academy's health staff will be cut by more than half from 45 to 21 as part of the overall federal Base Realignment and...

Former terrorists Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zak Anani addressed cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, during their annual political forum. They shared their experiences as terrorists and helped cadets understand the Islamic fundamentalist mind set. During the event a Jordanian college student, identified as Omar Khalifa of Metro International, approached Kamal Saleem and spoke to him in Arabic, "you are an enemy of Islam and you must die." The incident was reported to Military Police, who investigated Khalifa's threat. "The men receive threats of this nature all of time and we take each one very...

Some former terrorists were speaking at the academy to give insights on the life and thoughts of Muslim terrorists so the cadets can better understand the enemy. Well, it turns out that some real terrorists showed up. MMD: Former terrorists Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zak Anani addressed cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, during their annual political forum. They shared their experiences as terrorists and helped cadets understand the Islamic fundamentalist mind set. During the event a Jordanian college student, identified as Omar Khalifa of Metro International, approached Kamal Saleem and spoke to him in...

Muslim group says Air Force Academy speakers use hate speech By: IVAN MORENO - Associated Press DENVER -- A Muslim advocacy group is decrying the U.S. Air Force Academy's decision to invite three former "terrorists" who the group said slam the religion with "hate-filled" rhetoric. The D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said one of the speakers, Walid Shoebat, has said that "Islam is the devil." Shoebat, along with Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani are scheduled to speak Wednesday at the 50th Annual Academy Assembly in Colorado Springs, where the topic of the four-day event is "Dismantling Terrorism." Maj. Brett Ashworth,...

A senior cadet at the Air Force Academy is a recipient of one of 32 Rhodes scholarships for 2008. Cadet Hila Levy of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, is first in her class at the academy. She is a biology major who has minors in Arabic, French and Spanish. She is fluent in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Hebrew. Levy has researched hemorrhagic fever in Venezuela and is the author of several papers relating to language in the military and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She will attend the University of Oxford in England and plans to obtain two master's degrees — one in global...

This song and movie was written, performed, and produced by Air Force Academy Cadets. When male and female cadets at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado "hook up" - they call it "Falcon Love." The Academy mascot is the falcon. The girl to guy ratio is about four or five to one. I know several married couples who met there, and are now on active duty. This song is a hoot - very funny, and so is the movie. It could apply to any service academy, ROTC, NCO Academy, or tech school. It was originally written for a contest...

After spending the last year fighting in Iraq, about 400 Colorado National Guard troops are home. The troops are part of the 2nd battalion, 135th aviation regiment. They were welcomed home at the Air Force Academy Sunday night.The soldiers began arriving home last week, but they've only been able to spend limited time with their families. Sunday, they officially got to go home.Sgt. 1st Class Blekis Clark is overjoyed to be back with her family."I left five children, four who are still at home. It was heart wrenching," said Clark. Sunday it was nothing but hugs for mom, who they...

After four years of intense academic and physical effort, two Valley residents are celebrating their graduation from the United States Air Force Academy. Matthew Boyle and Katrina Mumaw returned from Colorado Springs earlier this month as newly minted second lieutenants in the Air Force. "It was challenging, but definitely worth it at the end," said Mumaw, a 2001 Lancaster High School graduate. Both Boyle, a 2002 Paraclete graduate, and Mumaw are enjoying their eight-week vacation before reporting to their first assignment - by far the longest time off the former cadets have had since they began at the academy four...

6/7/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Summertime for university students is normally the chance to relax and unwind after surviving grueling semesters of cramming for exams and researching term papers. Some students spend this time at home with their family; some travel to tropical vacations spots. Some students go to a war zone. Nineteen U.S. Air Force Academy juniors and seniors embarked on a summer intern program of sorts on June 5, when they arrived in Southwest Asia to begin a nearly four-week, hands-on orientation with the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing at an air base supporting operations Iraqi Freedom and...

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2006 – The U.S. will triumph over murderous extremists because of the daring and ingenuity of its people and armed forces, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in his commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy today. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld delivers his commencement speech to the 2006 graduating class of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 31. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "Violent extremists are trying to terrorize and intimidate free people into submitting to their will,"...

/16/2006 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- Former Air Force great Chad Hennings received one of the highest honors a college football player can earn May 16. He was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame. Hennings is one of 13 players and two coaches to be selected to the hall of fame from a ballot of 77 candidates and a pool of hundreds of eligible nominees, according to Ron Johnson, chairman of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. Hennings, a 1988 graduate of the Academy, is considered one of college football’s great...

3/31/2006 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) -- “Service Before Self,” one of the Air Force’s core values, is on the minds of 135 U.S. Air Force Academy cadets who are working during their alternative spring break in areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The project is part of the Cadet Service Learning program which centers on community involvement. “CSL takes this core value from theoretical concepts of the classroom and a training environment,” said Maj. Eric Ecklund, of the academy’s Center for Character Development. “It allows cadets to put it to the test in real situations, meeting the needs...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Officials at a Tallahassee funeral home say a man who culminated a 35-year military career serving as superintendent of the U-S Air Force Academy has died. Officials at Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home say that Former Air Force Lieutenant General Kenneth Tallman died Monday at age 80 from complications of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. A native of Nebraska, TAllman graduated from the U-S Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1946. He then went on to become a fighter pilot, serving in Vietnam as an Air Force assistant to Army General William Westmoreland. After his military...

Cadet Captures Essence of Academy Experience Jan. 31, 2006 Joseph R. Tomczak Cadet Fourth Class, United States Air Force Academy So after our sunburns have faded and the memories of our winter break have been reduced to pictures we’ve pinned on our desk boards, and once again we’ve exchanged t-shirts and swim suits for flight suits and camouflage, there still remains the question that every cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has asked themselves at some point: Why did we come back? Why, after spending two weeks with our family would we return to one of...

The U.S. Naval Academy has ordered a court-martial for a faculty member who made a "crude" remark in the presence of female midshipmen, even though an investigating officer recommended only administrative action. The three criminal charges against Lt. Bryan D. Black come as the Annapolis school's superintendent, Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, has announced a "zero-tolerance" campaign to rid the campus of sexual harassment. Lt. Black says he is being unfairly prosecuted as a "poster child" for Adm. Rempt's campaign. The academy filed criminal charges days after the school's board of visitors criticized Adm. Rempt after a Defense Department sexual...

William “Bill” Crawford certainly was an unimpressive figure, one you could easily overlook during a hectic day at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Mr. Crawford, as most of us referred to him back in the late 1970s, was our squadron janitor. While we cadets busied ourselves preparing for academic exams, athletic events, Saturday morning parades and room inspections, or never-ending leadership classes, Bill quietly moved about the squadron mopping and buffing floors, emptying trash cans, cleaning toilets, or just tidying up the mess 100 college-age kids can leave in a dormitory. Sadly, and for many years, few of us gave...

A pattern of hostility to free speech - specifically the rights of Christians to pray - is on the rise in our country. We saw it in our nation’s public schools ... where prayer was officially banned. We have seen it in our workplaces. Now, our United States military seems to have “jumped on the bandwagon” ... with Air Force leadership recently releasing proposed guidelines that will restrict how Air Force chaplains can pray. If approved, these guidelines may well be implemented throughout the entire Armed Forces. This is an outrage that we cannot allow! Already, it is documented that...

House Lawmakers Concerned About Limits on Military Chaplains Wednesday, December 14, 2005 WASHINGTON — House lawmakers concerned that proposed military guidelines are restricting some Christian chaplains' abilities to pray said Wednesday they will deliver a 6-inch-thick petition to President Bush this week asking him to intervene. The Pentagon is finalizing guidelines to help determine what is appropriate religious expression, following an internal investigation that found examples of religious insensitivity at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Col. Conservative lawmakers and others said they fear the guidelines, which urge sensitivity to religious diversity, go too far. They said some Christian...

Air Force Layoffs Include Academy Grads (Colorado Springs, CO) - The Air Force plans to lay off more than 17 - hundred lieutenants in the next year, including hundreds of recent Air Force Academy graduates. The cuts will be made in postitions such as security specialists and maintenence experts, but not pilots, satelilite specialists, or navigators. The Air Force hopes to cut four-thousand of it's more than 73 - thousand officers. Air Force spokleswoman Major Jennifer Stephens says the layoffs were triggered by an increase in the number of people staying in the service for full careers. Stephens says the...

A pattern of hostility to free speech - specifically the rights of Christians to pray - is on the rise in our country. We saw it in our nation’s public schools ... where prayer was officially banned. We have seen it in our workplaces. Now, our United States military seems to have “jumped on the bandwagon” ... with Air Force leadership recently releasing proposed guidelines that will restrict how Air Force chaplains can pray. If approved, these guidelines may well be implemented throughout the entire Armed Forces. This is an outrage that we cannot allow! Already, it is documented that...

I just got home from the Air Force vs Army Football game here in Colorado Springs, and thought some of you might like to hear about the halftime show. While the Air Force falcon (bird not airplane) was flying around the stadium as usual, the USAFA band marched to the south end of the field, just about under the Army crowd and band, which was a bit out of the ordinary. As soon as the bird finished, the USAFA band started playing an Army march and we noticed something coming out of the north end of the stadium from the...

We owe a great debt to Air Force Academy head football coach Fisher DeBerry. To be sure, the initial knee-jerk reaction to his recent comments about black football players being generally faster than white ones caused him to be treated like a "politically incorrect" piñata (my God, I hope I haven't offended Latinos). Upon reflection, however, his statements were so obviously true that something of an anti-PC backlash has materialized in his defense. To their credit, Sam Adams and Thierry Smith, two African-American Denver sportswriters, both agreed on their KKFN radio talk show that DeBerry's remarks weren't racist and that...

Air Force Academy football coach Fisher DeBerry merely stated a fact, but his comments about black athletes were nonetheless controversial. Sometimes the truth hurts. While discussing his team's 48-10 loss to Texas Christian University last weekend, he said: "It's very obvious that they had a lot more Afro-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did. It just seems to me to be that way, that Afro-American players can run very, very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well."...

A letter was sent by Congressman Walter B. Jones, (R-NC), to President George W. Bush earlier this week with 69 signatures of Members of the United States House of Representatives explaining that Christian military chaplains are being told to use general terms when they pray publicly, and to not mention the name of Jesus. The Members of the House of Representatives signing the letter to the president said: "We are disappointed and gravely concerned to learn that the Christian military chaplains are under direct attack and that their right to pray according to their faith is in jeopardy. As you...

DENVER -- Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry met the academy's new superintendent for the first time Wednesday, and found himself being reprimanded, but not fired, for statements he made about black athletes and recruiting. The 67-year-old coach, known for his folksy, disarming charm and his homespun sayings, found himself in an imbroglio over political correctness for the second time in less than 12 months. Last time, it was about religion in the locker room. This time, it was about black football players -- or the lack of them -- at the academy. After his meeting with Lt. Gen. John Regni,...

Air Force Academy coach Fisher DeBerry has apologized for voicing a need to recruit more black athletes to fill the speed positions of his football team. This is not too far removed from a basketball coach expressing a desire to acquire taller athletes in the frontcourt. Both prototypes on the sports wish list fall under the heading of, "Duh." Perhaps the objection to DeBerry emanates from the ideal to have a color-blind society, a hopelessly impossible goal because of the highly visual nature of humans. You might as well be pining for the day that Vogue magazine routinely splashes plus-size...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Air Force football coach Fisher DeBerry said Tuesday his coaching staff needed to recruit more African-American athletes, reiterating a comment he made Monday while talking about the state of his struggling program. Academy officials released a statement Tuesday night saying they would review the remarks. "The senior leadership of the academy is aware of media reports about Coach DeBerry's comments on minority recruiting," academy spokesman Lt. Col. Laurent Fox said. "We can not comment further until we have a chance to review all of the reports, the coach's actual statements and to speak with the coach...

If, indeed, "there are no atheists in foxholes,” a new Air Force regulation may ensure that there is no Christian prayer there either. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) is circulating a letter he sent to President George W. Bush, which alleges a new Air Force guideline urging "non-sectarian” prayer is "merely a euphemism declaring that prayers will be acceptable so long as they censor Christian beliefs.” The letter requests Bush to sign an executive order withdrawing the new regulation. Thus far, Rep. Jones has only gathered 32 signatures. He says more are to come. The Air Force regulation was authored by...

AFA gets new Commandant --- The Air Force announced today that Brig. Gen. (Sel.) Susan Y. Desjardins,'80, who is currently commander of the 437th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB, S.C. will be the Academy's new commandant and 34th Training Wing commander.

The news could have been worse. The U.S. Air Force's new guidelines for religious tolerance, released in late August, didn't ban all forms of public prayer and worship at the Air Force Academy, as some liberal critics had demanded. The Air Force still allows "brief, nonsectarian prayer" at special ceremonies or in "extraordinary circumstances" such as "mass casualties, preparation for imminent combat and natural disasters," but "usually" not at "staff meetings … and sporting events." By all accounts, the policy is aimed directly at evangelicals, whose numbers are growing among the ranks of cadets and chaplains at the Air Force...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A New Mexico man sued the Air Force on Thursday, claiming Air Force Academy senior officers and cadets illegally imposed Christianity on others at the school. The suit was filed in federal court by Mikey Weinstein, an academy graduate and outspoken critic of the school's handling of religion. Over the past decade or more, the suit claims, academy leaders have fostered an environment of religious intolerance at the Colorado school, in violation of the First Amendment.

RenewAmerica alert! U.S. Air Force bombs freedom of religion September 23, 2005 RenewAmerica staff Friends, Your action is needed! Please send this to everyone you know. As many of you are aware, on August 29, 2005, the U.S. Air Force issued sweeping new guidelines that essentially prohibit public prayer at all official Air Force meetings and events, except at worship services and under "extraordinary circumstances"--such as "mass casualties, preparation for imminent combat and natural disasters." Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is now thinking of requiring all of the Armed Services to abide by these restrictions as well. As reported by...

The following is an effort to get important information to you before you read or hear it from the news media or the rumor mill. A third class cadet was arrested today by Fountain, Colo., police and charged with sexual assault in the first degree (physical helplessness). He is currently in the custody of the Fountain Police Department. If he is released on bail, he will return to the Academy where he will continue as a cadet pending the outcome of any potential legal action. Remember, in America, everyone is presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of law....

As many of you know, my daughter is a Cadet at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. She's at the football game and Security Forces are out in full force and full gear. Supposedly there is a just released Al Queda tape just released showing a film of the cadets marching into the stadium with an Arabic announcer spouting threats. They are taking this seriously and have begun briefing the Cadets. I can't find out anything on the news sources yet... HAS ANYONE ELSE HEARD ANTHING?

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - The Air Force Inspector General's office has cleared a top Air Force Academy general of proselytizing non-Christian cadets, Air Force spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens said Wednesday. Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida had faced seven allegations that he improperly shared his faith. The inspector general in June cleared him of six of the seven allegations, including his June 2003 "guidance" to cadets that said they are "accountable first to your God." He also urged cadets and staff to pray. The academy said the final allegation of which he was cleared Wednesday was "using a...

Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry will reportedly forgo his customary team prayer before Saturday's game against Washington. The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported that the team will observe a moment of silence in the locker room instead. It's one of the first visible changes brought on by a new policy on public displays of religion. The Air Force issued guidelines Monday that discourage public prayer at official functions and urge commanders to be sensitive about personal expressions of religious faith. DeBerry has led pregame prayers in his previous 21 years as Air Force's coach. Last year, academy officials told DeBerry...

Washington—On Tuesday, President Bush nominated Lt. Gen. John Regni to become superintendent of the Air Force Academy in order to root out evangelical Christians, which has become a long standing problem at the academy. The once honored institution has been rocked by sexual abuse and religious insensitivity scandals in recent years. In attempts to clean up the promiscuous behavior, the pendulum has reportedly swung the other way, leaving religious symbols and prayer in its wake. So, in an attempt to deal with the problem President Bush personally handpicked Lt. General Regni. Regni, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from...

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- The Naval Academy has no plans to drop the regular saying of grace before its midshipmen's lunch, despite a policy issued this week by the Air Force to discourage most public prayer, a spokesman said. The Naval Academy is the only U.S. military institution that holds formal prayer at lunch, a ritual that might date to its founding in 1845. Its chaplains say grace at the mandatory lunch for its more than 4,100 midshipmen. Academy spokesman Cmdr. Rod Gibbons said there are no plans to change the tradition of what he has called "devotional thoughts." Prayers are...

DENVER (AP) - The Air Force released new guidelines for religious tolerance Monday that discourage public prayer at official functions and urge commanders to be sensitive about personal expressions of religious faith. The document directs chaplains to "respect the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs." But some who have criticized the Air Force Academy questioned whether needed changes will really be implemented. The guidelines, which apply to the entire Air Force, were drawn up after allegations that evangelical Christians wield so much influence at the academy in Colorado Springs that anti-Semitism...

The Air Force released new guidelines for religious tolerance Monday that discourage public prayer at official functions and urge commanders to be sensitive about personal expressions of religious faith. The document directs chaplains to "respect the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs." But some who have criticized the academy questioned whether needed changes will really be implemented. The guidelines, which apply to the entire Air Force, were drawn up after allegations that evangelical Christians wield so much influence at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs that anti-Semitism and other forms...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - The U.S. Senate has shelved plans to promote the No. 2 officer at the Air Force Academy, a Christian who has been criticized as proselytizing in memorandums and speeches. The name of the officer, Brig. Gen. Johnny A. Weida, commandant of cadets, was pulled from a promotions list before a Senate vote to award 21 Air Force generals a second star. Weida, a 1978 academy graduate, was nominated in May for promotion to major general. An Air Force spokeswoman, Jennifer Stephens, said the Senate had pulled Weida's name off the list.

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - The Senate has put off an Air Force proposal to promote the No. 2 officer at the Air Force Academy, a born-again Christian who has been criticized for proselytizing in memos and speeches. Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida's name was on a list of 21 Air Force generals nominated to receive a second star, but the Senate did not act on his promotion. Weida, a 1978 academy graduate, was nominated May 9 for promotion to major general. Air Force spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens said Tuesday the Senate pulled Weida's name off the list before...

Stamping out evangelical Christian activity at the Air Force Academy could erode combat will, retention, and enlistments and violate the intent of the First Amendment to the Constitution. On June 22, the Air Force released a report of investigation into complaints of proselytizing by and religious intolerance on the part of evangelical Christians at the academy. The 16-member investigation group found "a religious climate that does not involve overt religious discrimination, but a failure to fully accommodate all members' needs and a lack of awareness over where the line is drawn between permissible and impermissible expression of beliefs."