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ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 23, 2008 – Michael Ursetti was a high school sophomore living in northern New Jersey when the terrorist planes attacked the World Trade Center towers in New York, killing more than a dozen of his neighbors. Members of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2008 walk onto the field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., during graduation and commencement ceremonies May 23, 2008. Defense Department photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “I had known since I was about 16 that I wanted to be in the military, but that pretty...

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2008 – The Pentagon Channel and cable company Comcast are teaming up to offer customers televised coverage of this year’s graduation ceremonies at the service academies. “We appreciate Comcast’s decision to carry the Pentagon Channel’s coverage of the military service academy graduations,” Brian Natwick, general manager of the Pentagon Channel, stated in a Comcast news release. Featured coverage includes this year’s graduation ceremonies at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Comcast digital cable customers throughout New Jersey,...

ASHRAF — Four hundred and thirteen Iraqis graduated, May 16, from the Multi National Division Regional Training Academy located in Ashraf, Iraq. The Iraqis attended the four-week course in order to become Iraqi police. “The training the IP received was top notch training, and it’s going to help them when they go out to their stations and start doing the job of taking care of the Iraqis and providing their security,” said Sgt. Richard Forbes-Watkins, a soldier with 202nd Military Police Company. The Iraqi police graduation is a huge step forward for Iraq, said Sgt. Maj. Gerald Stegemeier, the senior...

Folks, I want to invite all Freepers and Lurkers in good standing to attend the rally to welcome the families of the graduating cadets of the Coast Guard Academy on May 21, 2008. Vice President Dick Cheney will be the honored speaker.

4/1/2008 - NAVAJO, N.M. (AFPN) -- Air Force Academy cadets, civil engineering professors and family members performed volunteer work during the Academy's spring break March 24 to 28 on a Navajo reservation here. Organized by the Academy's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Southwest Indian Foundation, one of this year's spring break projects took the Academy volunteers to the home of Korean War veteran Hoskie Bitsilly, Sr. Mr. Bitsilly's wife, Grace, suffered a stroke recently and is now wheelchair-bound, but their home was not wheelchair-accessible. "The cadets are trying to renovate the deck, to extend out the deck...

SAMARRA — Sixty-four Iraqi Policemen (IP) took the first step toward becoming full-fledged members of the police force in Samarra during a ceremony honoring their completion of a two-week training course in February. During the first ever Samarra Preparatory Police Academy graduation ceremony, the newest members of a force designed to protect and serve the citizens of Samarra received certificates recognizing their completion of the course. The course was designed to give the men the tools they will need in order to perform basic police duties. With an urgent need to fill the police ranks with qualified, trained IP, the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Feb. 28, 2008 – More than 80 Iraqi soldiers and policemen graduated from Task Force Marne Noncommissioned Officer Academy training here Feb. 25. Iraqi soldiers find cover during a training exercise at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Feb. 23, 2008. The soldiers were part of the second class to graduate from the Task Force Marne Noncommissioned Officer Academy. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. For two weeks, they participated in foot patrols, Humvee combat patrols, rifle ranges and classroom lectures to increase their skills and ability to lead in combat. “You...

BAGHDAD — History was made when the inaugural class of more than 1,100 Iraqi Police (IP) recruits graduated the two-week Basic Recruit Training Course, Feb. 21, at the Furat Iraqi Police Training Academy in Baghdad. During the initial phase of their training, the graduates successfully completed training on weapons familiarization, law, ethics, crime scene, handcuffing and various other skills. “Today’s graduation makes us very happy because this will provide security and control to this area,” said Nihad Mahmad Taha, an IP graduate. “We’re all very excited about it. I joined the IP because I’ve seen how much damage the extremists...

FOB KALSU — For 56 Iraqi noncommissioned officers (NCO), their recent graduation from the Task Force Marne NCO Academy on FOB Kalsu is just the starting point. The class of NCOs included 55 Iraqi Army NCOs and one Iraqi Police NCO; they are the first class to graduate from the course, which began Jan. 14. The hope is that these leaders will take lessons learned and pass them on to troops they lead. Additionally, lessons learned from the class will be used in future training after the academy’s official grand opening, Feb. 12. “What do you do now? You go...

Public Service Academies by: Amanda Busse, January 11, 2008 A panel debate over the need for a U.S. Public Service Academy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) on Wednesday left some wondering whether its benefits would be worth its costs. “It’s got great potential, but it definitely needs more support from Congress, and taxpayers might have a problem with it,” said Brianne Aderly, a member of the non-profit group City Year, who came to watch the debate. The Public Service Academy is the brainchild of Chris Meyers Asch, 33. A Teach for America veteran who co-founded the project, Asch wants...

Hit And Run On Air Force Academy Campus Posted: 7:17 AM Dec 4, 2007 Last Updated: 7:17 AM Dec 4, 2007 Reporter: 11 News Email Address: news@kktv11news.com A civilian employee at the U.S. Air Force Academy is dead as the result of a hit-and-run collision near the academy's community center yesterday morning. It happened about 9 a.m. Monday, and kept the north and south entry gates to the campus closed for about four hours. The driver still has not been located.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Its most virulent critics have dubbed it "Terror High," and 12 U.S. senators and a federal commission want to shut it down. The teachers, administrators and some 900 students at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax County have heard the allegations for years — after the Sept. 11 attacks and then a few years later when a class valedictorian admitted he had joined al-Qaida. Now the school is on the defensive again, with a report issued last month by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom saying the academy should be closed, pending a review of its...

11/2/2007 - KABUL, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Nearly, 2,000 young hopefuls descended upon the Afghan National Military Academy recently, all vying for the chance to be accepted into the academy and possibly study in the United States and Great Britain. A group of U.S. Airmen and Soldiers are currently working at the academy helping process the admissions, develop the course and mentor the faculty members. "It's very important that the future officers of the Afghan National Army have a good education so that they can lead their troops properly," said Lt. Col. Kevin Burns, a math mentor at the Academy, deployed...

In a weekend speech to College Democrats, Senator Hillary Clinton discussed her proposal for a West Point for bureaucrats. Not only is it a silly idea on its face, but the fine print contains additional embarrassment “I’m going to be asking a new generation to serve,” she said. “I think just like our military academies, we need to give a totally all-paid education to young men and women who will serve their country in a public-service position.” She has introduced legislation (S. 960) to establish a United States Public Service Academy. According to the bill text, such a school is...

Nisreen Hama Amin receives instruction on firing a Glock 9mm pistol during weapons training at the KirkukPoliceAcademy. Nisreen is one of the first women to graduate from the academy. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Amanda Morrissey. KIRKUK — The first women to train at Kirkuk Police Academy were among the 980 police officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) to graduate from the academy, May 27.Nisreen Hama Amin and Mirvat Amin, no relation, have joined their male counterparts in donning the blue uniform of the Iraqi police force to answer what they see as the patriotic call to duty.“I want to help...

Soldiers with Troop A, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, out of Fort Bliss Texas, practice reflexive fire drills at the Spears Academy range in Mosul, Jan. 26. The Soldiers are brushing up on their weapons skills in preparation for the inaugural class of Iraqi Army soldiers at the troop-run noncommissioned officers academy. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment) MOSUL -- Soldiers with 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, launched a noncommissioned officers academy for Iraqi Army soldiers at Forward Operating Base Marez Feb. 3. The Spear Academy grounds include a firing range, obstacle course,...

A Naval Academy midshipman who was expelled after he failed a running test will have to pay the Navy for the cost of his education. Baltimore County resident Frank Shannon had asked that the 127-thousand dollar bill be waived. But a senior Navy official rejected his appeal this month, saying the academy provided Shannon with ample opportunity to meet its minimum fitness standards. Shannon failed 12 of 18 fitness tests, and failed in a series of attempts to run a mile-and-a-half in 10 minutes and 30 seconds. In his final test, he was 20 seconds short. He was expelled just...

By Maj. Raul E. Marquez3rd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. PAO An Iraqi Police officer receives his IP patch from Maj. Mason W. Crow, Task Force Blue executive officer, during the graduation ceremony, Dec. 24. TF Blue is responsible for training and equipping the Iraqi Police. Official U.S. Army photo. BAQUBAH -- About125 Iraqi Police officers assigned to various units in the Baqubah area, graduated from the first IraqiPolice Training Academy in Baqubah, conducted under the guidance of coalition forces from Task Force Blue and the International Police Liaison Officers, Dec 24. “Officers from the Emergency Ready Forces, the Quick...

Iraqis Graduate from Police Academy New recruits will help make Kirkuk area safer. By U.S. Army Capt. Janet Herrick KIRKUK, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2006 -- New recruits, who graduated from the Transition Integration Police Academy on Dec. 17, will join Iraqi police stations throughout the 37 districts of the province to help make the Kirkuk area safer. “In front of me are men that understand what duty, honor and country mean,” said Lt. Col. Samuel Whitehurst, deputy commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. “They have pledged themselves that the Kirkuk people will live in peace.”The 53 graduates...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 22, 2006 -- The nearly 300 American and other international troops working at the Kabul Military Training Center here can see the fruits of their labor every day. Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey (center), senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listens to a briefing during a visit to the Kabul Military Training Center Nov. 22. During the visit, both classroom and physical fitness training demonstrated the capabilities of the growing Afghan National Army. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher DeWitt, USAF  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “This is...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2006 – Nearly 1,400 candidates gathered at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan recently to apply for admittance the academy’s third class since its reopening in 2001, officials at Combined Forces Command Afghanistan announced. Only 350 of the 18- to 22-year-old applicants who applied between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1 will be selected to be part of the class of 2011, officials said. Candidates were tested on their aptitude and physical fitness abilities. The physical evaluation consisted of a one-minute push-up test, a one-minute sit-up test and a 300-meter run, which most of the applicants did in...

Training Academy Gets 36 New Motorcycles Vehicles will give Afghan National Police more mobility to track down insurgents. By Army Sgt. Mayra Kennedy 345th Mobile Public Affairs Detachmen KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 11, 2006 -- The Afghan National Police in Regional Command South received 36 new motorcycles here Aug. 8 to support local authorities. Regional Command South police commander, Gen. Esmatullah Dawlatzai, accepted the motorcycles, knowing the new equipment will improve the efficiency of the police in the south. “The motorcycles will help us follow insurgents and Taliban, and it will be good for our men to do their...

this weeks "navy times" came out. it had the usual articles in it. one very touching one about the last carrier operations of the f-14s. then.....

Former Toyota President Shoichiro Toyoda has founded Kaiyo Academy, a $175-million school that he modeled after Britain's Eton Academy -- a school that boasts 19 British Prime Ministers among her alumni and the second-in-line to the throne, Prince William. In Japan there is dissatisfaction with the 'dumbing-down' of its curriculum. Four years ago, the government cut 30% of the workload off the elementary and junior high school curriculum. Toyota's Kaiyo academy is attractive for many reasons. 1. It is backed by Toyota. 2. It is focusing on developing kids who can do more than just pass exams. 3. It is...

FORT BLISS, Texas (Army News Service, June 9, 2006) – Sixteen Afghan pilots, crew chiefs and flight engineers graduated the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy today at Fort Bliss, Texas. The first Afghan aviators to graduate the academy, they will use their new knowledge to help combat narcoterrorists in Afghanistan. “This is a great day for the people of Afghanistan and for the people of the United States,” said Richard J. Douglas, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics. “This sets the stage for what you have accomplished here at Fort Bliss …by helping President Hamid Karzi’s efforts to suppress...

Last week, while working on a piece for National Review Online, I had the opportunity to chat with several experts on the subject of armed combat – all of whom have heard the zip and pop of bullets breaking the sound barrier around them. One of those experts was Col. John W. Ripley (U.S. Marine Corps, ret.).

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,"...

RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq, May 26, 2006 – They call it "Sandhurst in the Sand." The Iraqi military academy here is modeled after Britain's Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, in Camberley, Surrey, and it has begun turning out officers for the new Iraqi army. Danish Sgt. Maj. Warrant Officer J.H. Post speaks through an interpreter with his Iraqi counterpart during a May 24 field exercise with cadets of the Iraqi military academy at Rustamiyah, Iraq. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "The key here are the cadets themselves and what they do," British Col. Maurice Sheen, the senior...

It started as a swearing in ceremony to put badly needed cops back on Detroit streets, but it turned into a swearing out ceremony when Chief Ella Bully-Cummings decided to stop the event at the very last moment. The 25 police academy students were ordered back to class after one of the students failed a pop quiz by Chief Bully-Cummings. According to Richard Weaver, Detroit Police Officers Association, the chief asked one of the students for her assistant chief’s job description. When the student didn’t know, Weaver said the chief was "highly upset," had their badges stripped and sent all...

ID at the academy From ResearchID.org, a nexus for researching Intelligent Design Universities are beginning to analytically and synthetically investigate intelligent design. Here is our confirmed list. Name Location Instructor Approach Misc. Cornell University Ithaca, NY, USA Allen MacNeill Open dialogue, anti-ID Cornell IDEA Club contributing to the discussion University of Memphis Memphis, TN, USA John Angus Campbell University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL, USA Kevin Redding Genes and Genesis University of Alabama, Huntsville Huntsville, AL, USA Robert Sheldon Honors 399: Physics, Philosophy and Fundamentalism University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA Chris Macosko Origins: By chance or design?(News Article Syllabus)...

/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...

Site requires membership to pull up story but here is excerpt... Grandson Wants Russian Authorities to Investigate Stalin’s Death Joseph Stalin’s great-grandson has appealed to the Russian authorities with a request to investigate the circumstances of his great-grandfather’s death, news agencies reported Thursday. “When Stalin was disposed of, Khrushchev, who imagined himself to be a statesman, was able to come to power. His so called activities were nothing but a betrayal of the interests of the state that he headed,” Jacob Jugashvili said in a statement. The betrayal committed in the Kremlin should be judged in the Kremlin, too, he...

3/13/2006 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- Two aviators who brought World War II to the Japanese mainland, and the daughter of the mission’s leader, will speak at the Air Force Academy March 14. Retired Cols. Bill Bower and Dick Cole, along with Jonna Doolittle-Hoppes are the speakers for a lectinar here sponsored by the Academy’s history department. On April 18, 1942, 80 volunteer bomber aircrews led by then-Lt. Col. James Doolittle launched 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers from the USS Hornet, to bomb mainland Japan. Colonel Cole and Doolittle were at the controls of the first bomber...

Clooney film faces censorship (But You Know The New York Slimes...) by Julia Wheeler The film which won George Clooney an Oscar may be banned in one of the countries where it was shot because of political sensitivities. Syriana was partly filmed in the United Arab Emirates. The authorities there are still deciding whether the film, which is a political thriller, will be shown.

When Christine Smith heard the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" announced as the Oscar winner for best original song on Sunday night's telecast, she almost fell off the sofa in her Arlington living room. Deborah Veney Robinson of Silver Spring had pretty much the same reaction. So did Juaquin Jessup of Northwest Washington. "It was just like during the time when all the blaxploitation films were coming out with African Americans being portrayed as pimps and hos and gangsters," said Jessup, 51. "It was another example of how they pick the worst aspects of black life and...

Here's a speech we would like to hear from an Academy Award winner: I thank you for this wonderful award. Receiving an Academy Award gives the recipient an almost unique opportunity to speak to hundreds of millions people around the world, so I would like take this once-in-a-lifetime moment to say this:

I just wanted to see the weather. That’s all. I do admit it’s my own fault for making the mistake of tuning in to one of the major networks. Much to my surprise what do I see? Yet another Hollywood Awards Show. I know… it’s hard to believe. I guess it must be that time of the month again. It seems like every lunar cycle we are subjected to the beautiful people’s insatiable appetite for patting themselves on the back. I couldn’t look away. The repugnance of it was mesmerizing. O.K. let’s be positive, I thought. Maybe this time one...

THE MOST leftist-dominated institution in American life today is our system of higher education. Studies have shown that liberal faculty members outnumber conservatives in some disciplines by 30 to 1. At colleges and universities all over the country, the watchwords are "tolerance" and "diversity" - which, in the university world, means a community where everyone looks different but thinks alike. By now, the evidence of leftist dominance is so overwhelming that no one can credibly dispute it. But does that dominance really present a problem? Not to the left (of course). They would argue that their universities are havens of...

Letter to Marine brings flag homeGirl helps dedicate banner at schoolBy MARCIA LANGHENRY The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/28/06 Words of a freckled girl in a plaid jumper can tear right through a Marine's hide. The message was something like this, penciled on paper picturing bears and rabbits: Phil Skinner/AJCPinecrest Academy student Nicole Madda received a flag that flew over the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq after writing to a Marine; she presented it to the school on Presidents Day. Photographic ArtsAttending the ceremony are retired Marine Tony Madda, granddaughter Nicole Madda, and Pinecrest Academy's Rick Swygman. We pray for...

'Brokeback Mountain' Leads Academy Awards With Eight Nominations By Stephanie Cole 'Brokeback Mountain' leads the 78th Annual Academy Awards this year with eight nominations. 'Crash' and 'Capote' will face off against the Ang Lee love story in the Best Picture category, along with 'Good Night, And Good Luck' and 'Munich.'

ZAKHO, Iraq (Army News Service, Jan. 19, 2006) - In northern Iraq, there is a school under reconstruction that may have a greater impact on the future of Iraq than any other reconstruction effort. The school is Zakho Military Academy. As important as oil, electricity, water, health care, and primary education are to Iraq’s future, educating those already identified to be the future leaders of Iraq will provide direction in the same manner as a rudder steers a large ship. Zakho Military Academy is one of Iraq’s two national military academies and is equivalent to the U.S. Military Academy at...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2005 – Contrary to an earlier report, two suicide bombers who killed at least 27 people and wounded at least 50 others today in a crowded courtyard at the Baghdad police academy were men, military officials reported. "An ongoing investigation indicates the bombers, earlier reported as females, were male," a Multinational Force Iraq news release said. Officials pointed out that suicide bombings by women have been rare in Iraq. Only two such bombings are known to have been carried out by women: one in September 2005 and another in 2003, officials said. The officials went on to...

Female Homicide Bombers Kill 27 in Police Academy Blast Tuesday, December 06, 2005 BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two women strapped with explosives blew themselves up at Baghdad's police academy on Tuesday, killing 27 people and wounding 32, the U.S. military said. The women blew themselves up in a classroom filled with students, the statement from Task Force Baghdad said. No U.S. forces were killed or wounded in the attack, it added. U.S. forces rushed to the scene to provide assistance, the statement said. Iraqi police said one bomb exploded in a cafeteria, while the other detonated during roll call. Police Lt....

10/3/2005 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- They lined Highway 24 in rural Peyton, Colo., about 30 miles east of here, straining to get a better glimpse of this real life “Field of Dreams.” A stretched limousine carrying an eager academy family pulled carefully alongside a huge bus so they could not see the miraculous transformation their home had undergone in just seven days while 5,000 Coloradians cheered them on. The event was part of the ABC network show “Extreme Makeover Home Edition,” which picks deserving families for a complete dwelling makeover. The show, which aired Oct. 2,...

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....

Our middle son will be graduating from the Lubbock, TX police academy in a couple of weeks. It's been a long haul for the last several months and needless to say we are extremely proud of him. He is probably one of the older guys in his class and I think his maturity and experience as an NCO in the Army Reserves with a tour in Iraq under his belt has served him well. I have no doubt that he will have a successful career in law enforcement. Now my question to any of the LEO's (or anyone else who...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: The President and First Lady are spending the weekend at their Crawford ranch. Undoubtedly Barney and Beezie are with them, but no new photos have turned up on Yahoo News Photos. (Sigh.) British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be visiting the President at the White House on Tuesday. The meeting is intended to be preparatory to the G8 Summit to be held in Scotland next month. They are expected to talk about aid to Africa, as well as the status of things in Afghanistan and Iraq. THE WEEK AHEAD: From White House Press Secretary Scott...

June 01, 2005Cadet E-mail Casts Shadow on Bias Policy (Leftist Anti-religious Bigots Strafe the Air Force Academy) By PAM ZUBECK The Air Force Academy’s top cadet commander, who graduates today, sent an e-mail to all underclassmen Tuesday making more than a dozen references to the Bible and several to Jesus. The cadet, senior Nicholas Jurewicz, said he attended the academy’s special religious sensitivity training but “didn’t think” to delete religious references before sending the message In the message, Jurewicz .......says that during his cadet years he collected quotations he wants to share. “[T]he insight of others is an avenue to...

Group urges AFA to ground 'proselytizing' By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News April 29, 2005 A watchdog group is pressuring the Air Force Academy to stop to what it calls a "pervasive atmosphere" of Christianity, or face a lawsuit or congressional scrutiny. "It sends a wrong message to people who want to go there and to the international community," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "That one of its missions is to convert people to Christianity doesn't sell well around the world." ................ Weinstein said. "This is not about religion, or Christian...

DENVER (AP) - The Air Force said Tuesday it is setting up a task force to investigate the religious climate at the Air Force Academy after reports of intolerance, including incidents of anti-Semitism. The task force will assess Air Force policy and guidance when it comes to religious respect and tolerance, acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael L. Dominguez said in a statement. It will also look into practices by commanders "that either enhance or detract from a climate that respects both the free exercise of religion and the establishment clauses of the First Amendment.