US Army discharges couple over Yom Kippur

Jerusalem Post ^ | Dec. 6, 2003 | AP

[yonif]

Refael and Margaret Chaiken were supposed to be seven months into a five-year army commitment by now, studying to be much-needed interrogators in the war on terrorism. Instead they are civilians looking for jobs.

The two were discharged after disobeying orders by skipping class so they could attend services for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.

"Our religion itself says if you are saving somebody's life, you have to [cease the observance])," Refael Chaiken said. "No one can convince us not going to class, when you can make it up, falls under that category."

The army calls the November 14 discharges a simple matter.

"They didn't meet the requirements of the course," said Tanja Linton, a spokeswoman at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where the Chaikens were training. "You have to meet the requirements of the course. We really just don't see the story here."

She said the army acted within its regulation on religious practices, which says it will accommodate religious practices "unless accommodation will have an adverse impact on unit readiness, individual readiness, unit cohesion, morale, discipline, safety, and/or health."

Jack Zimmermann, a Jewish Vietnam veteran who served 14 years active duty in the Marines and 16 more in the Marine reserves before retiring as a colonel, said he was shocked to hear about the Chaikens' plight.

"I observed 30 Yom Kippurs as a Marine officer and was never asked not to," said Zimmermann, now a lawyer in Houston.

"Even in Vietnam, I was commanding an artillery battery along the [demilitarized zone] and was able to return to Danang for High Holy Day services."

The military can bar a religious observance only in case of military necessity, added Zimmerman, who is not involved in the case. He said that should not include a "stateside classroom situation" and courses that easily could be made up.

The Chaikens said their problems began on October 4, two days before the holiday, when Battalion Commander Dennis Perkins told them not to attend all-day services. They said they were told to go to class as scheduled, but could go to services after class.

That meant nothing, Refael Chaiken said, because classes lasted so long. So the couple skipped class and attended a service at the fort's chapel. Refael Chaiken, 27, knew there would be consequences when they returned.

"They gave us a counseling statement and read us our rights, accused us of being AWOL and willful disobedience of a lawful order," said Chaiken, a veteran of the Israeli army who holds dual citizenship.

The Army disputed Chaiken's story on Friday. Fort Huachuca spokesman Maj. Paul Karnaze said officials were unable to find the couple at the Yom Kippur services held at the post chapel. He added that the couple remained unaccounted for until after sunset, when they returned to the barracks.

The couple said they were essentially put under house arrest and were threatened with military charges and punishment.

"We couldn't go to the store, we couldn't do anything," said Margaret Chaiken, 26, who holds a master's degree from the Sorbonne and speaks fluent French and Hebrew.

The legal problems disappeared when they filed a complaint with the Army's Equal Opportunity Department, the couple said. They were simply given a general discharge that mentions "misconduct" as a reason behind their return to civilian life.

The couple, who married in August after enlisting together, are staying with a relative in Houston and plan to seek work in the New York area. Refael Chaiken still wants to employ his Arabic and Hebrew language skills – honed growing up in Hebron since 1984 – but believes he'll need an honorable discharge to have a chance at government work.

"With a discharge like this it's going to be very hard to get a job with a three-letter agency like the CIA or FBI," he said.

[xm177e2]

We can't have joos in the US army. All of our arabic translators should be arabic!

[Cicero]

This is dumb. They should be happy to have observant Jews in their program. If you disobey an order, yes, you have to pay the penalty. But not letting an observant Jew observe Yom Kippur shows a complete lack of understanding and judgment on the part of the officer responsible.

[cake_crumb]

She said the army acted within its regulation on religious practices, which says it will accommodate religious practices "unless accommodation will have an adverse impact on unit readiness, individual readiness, unit cohesion, morale, discipline, safety, and/or health."

Uh...rabid Wahhabists stopping to pray 5 times a day and transporting classified documents out of Guantanimo helps readiness, cohesion, morale, discipline safety and/or health HOW, exactly?

[yonif]

Ping.

[cake_crumb]

Let's not forget the Muslim observing his Wahhabist cult of death by fragging his commanding officers in Kuwait. Oh yeah, THAT helps readiness, cohesion, safety and morale.

[Radix]

Even the Israelis had to fight on Yom Kippur during the 1973 conflict. Still, given the info as it is here, the Army has erred in a great way.

I simply have a bit of a problem with the story. There must be more to it. The Army would not do that at such a time. Would they? It is hard to believe.

Confounded here!

[cake_crumb]

Confused here.

[Bobby777]

Unfortunately, in the military, unless there's an obvious error on the part of your commanding officer that can be challenged under military law, you have to obey their orders ... they should have gone to class and filed a complaint ... it would have been the correct move ...

and yes, I would rather have more Jews in the U.S. military than the obvious traitors that have shown up at Gitmo ...

[CWOJackson]

"There must be more to it."

There usually is.

[optimistically_conservative]

There are a few holes in this story that I would be interested in.

First, if an EEO complaint was filed, that must be resolved. All complaints have a thorough review process. What was the result?

Second, what type of discharge did they receive? Apparently it was administrative, so which chapter? For what cause? Sounds like a general discharge, but classified as honorable or other than honorable?

Other than honorable has clear requirements that must be met. Were they?

Before taking this administrative action to discharge them, what other disciplinary or remedial actions were taken? What previous counselings were given? In an introductory school, which this sounds like Advance Individual Training, there are clear requirements that must be met before discharging a trainee.

What legal advice were the couple offered and provided before accepting the discharge?

[Prodigal Son]

"There must be more to it."

There usually is.

Yep.

[July 4th]

Even the Israelis had to fight on Yom Kippur during the 1973 conflict

Well...I think that's a little bit different. They literally had to fight.

[MinuteGal]

Sure, let the Islam military off 5 times a day for prayers, the Mormon military off for 6 months overseas missionary duty, let the Jehovah Witnesses have weekends off for ringing doorbells on the streets, and let the onward Christian soldiers have Easter and Christmas off, too, while we're at it.

Why are the holy days of any one religion any more important than the holy days of others?

We certainly are seeing some spoiled military individuals who think our Armed Force is Club Med.

Happy to see the brass hanging tough.

Leni

[SauronOfMordor]

I simply have a bit of a problem with the story. There must be more to it.

I have a feeling that these two were not on their CO's good side even before Yom Kipper, and he saw this as a convenient way of getting them out of there

[Darksheare]

This is stupid.
The military will BOW and SCRAPE to accommodate the ISLAMISTS, but when it comes to Jews and their religious beliefs...
The article speaks for itself.

[JerseyHighlander]

The Chaikens said their problems began on October 4, two days before the holiday, when Battalion Commander Dennis Perkins told them not to attend all-day services. They said they were told to go to class as scheduled, but could go to services after class.

Who wants to guess that they were the only Jews, and most certainly only Israelis in the program. Who wants to venture a guess that a large plurality of the people in their training program were Arab/Muslim.

There is no religious requirement to attend congregated services on Yom Kippur, the concept is obviously alien to the commander. As Israelis the Americanized (& mostly english) service was probably seen as a sham to them.

Another note, the Battalion webpages use the same Eagle/Flag logo that FR used for years as the background for some pages.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"I observed 30 Yom Kippurs as a Marine officer and was never asked not to," said Zimmermann

Ahhh, but it's a different military now Mr. Zimmermann. This isn't your father's Army.

[Darksheare]

Zav, this guy signed up today.
Check out his ONLY three posts (Two if you count the double post as one) and check out the interesting, er, context of his posts.
Conference the VK's when you can.
This guy's wording is really odd and bordering on out of touch and context with the article he's responding to here.