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Washington (CNSNews.com) - A former combat officer and military chaplain says this Memorial Day leaves him concerned about military chaplains, who currently face the threat of a military that is rushing headlong to introduce homosexuality and same-sex marriage into the armed services -- and an administration that is ignoring the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).“(H)ere we are as a nation, pulling the rug out from under soldiers -- really, is what we’re doing -- and commanders to really defend this nation,” said Bishop John Neal, head of the International Communion of Evangelical Churches.Neal, a retired Army colonel, said the...

Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning has been accused of leaking thousands of classified documents obtained during his tour in Iraq. But according to an officer, and a confidential military report, Manning was so psychologically unstable he should never have been sent to Iraq in the first place. Interviews with friends and soliders who served with him, undertaken for a new investigative film from The Guardian — excerpts from which you can watch above — reveal Manning as an intelligent, passionate individual whose stint in the military only deepened the anger and alienation he'd struggled with since a difficult childhood in...

Kind of long, so I'm just going to post a link to a blog which publishes what claims to be an e-mail exchange between a Navy officer and an official in charge of the repeal training. I have no way to verify the e-mails, but looks pretty plausible to me based on what I've read about the DADT repeal training: http://minorityrightsadvocate.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/the-military-is-not-ready-for-the-dadt-repeal-no-matter-what-the-spin-they-cannot-address-the-questions-from-the-front-line-leaders-or-front-line-members/

Military chaplains are concerned troops could be punished for expressing objections to homosexuality once the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy is lifted. Leaders of 21 religious groups that provide chaplains to the U.S. military on Monday sent a letter to the chiefs of chaplains of the Navy, Army, and Air Force. They want Congress or the Pentagon to guarantee troops won’t be punished if they openly discuss their objections to homosexuality. “This is already an assault and a challenge on individual conscience and some soldiers may think it’s forcing them to abandon their religious beliefs or being marginalized for holding...

MAJ MARGARET WITT OF AIR FORCE RESERVE TO RETIRE WITH FULL BENEFITS - LESBIAN NURSE ACCEPTS DEAL FROM JUSTICE DEPT GIVING HER CREDIT FOR 20 YEARS SERVICE AGREEMENT ENDS FIVE YEAR LEGAL BATTLE DECORATED OFFICER HAD BEEN "OUTED" BY ANGRY EX-GALPAL - AIR FORCE KICKED MUCH RESPECTED FLIGHT NURSE OUT FOR BEING "GAY" ONLY TO LOSE FIGHT IN FEDERAL COURT WHEN JUDGE ORDERED MAJOR RE-INSTATED © 2011 MilitaryCorruption.com Sometimes there are "happy endings," although no one can repay Margaret Witt for the hell the Air Force put her through, starting in 2006, when she was kicked out of the Reserve...

WASHINGTON – A House panel approved a defense bill early Thursday that would delay President Barack Obama's new policy allowing gays to serve openly in the military and limit the commander in chief's authority on slashing the nation's nuclear arsenal. By a vote of 60-1, the House Armed Services Committee approved the broad, $553 billion defense blueprint that would provide a 1.6 percent increase in military pay, fund an array of aircraft, ships and submarines, slightly increase health care fees for working-age retirees and meet the Pentagon's request for an additional $118 billion to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan....

A House panel approved a defense bill early Thursday that would delay President Barack Obama's new policy allowing gays to serve openly in the military and limit the commander in chief's authority on slashing the nation's nuclear arsenal. By a vote of 60-1, the House Armed Services Committee approved the broad, $553 billion defense blueprint that would provide a 1.6 percent increase in military pay, fund an array of aircraft, ships and submarines, slightly increase health care fees for working-age retirees and meet the Pentagon's request for an additional $118 billion to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The lone...

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, is introducing an amendment today designed to prohibit military chaplains from performing same-sex marriages on military bases. The amendment will be offered to the Defense authorization bill, which the Armed Services Committee is considering today. The amendment comes in the aftermath of an apparent about-face by the Navy on a decision to allow Navy chaplains to perform same-sex marriages in Navy chapels, as the military makes preparations to remove its ban on homosexuality. On Tuesday afternoon, the Navy's chief of chaplains said the new...

Washington (CNN) -- The Navy did an abrupt about-face late Tuesday, suspending earlier guidance that could have allowed same-sex marriages on military bases once the Pentagon scraps its present Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. A memorandum from the Chief of Chaplains, Rear Admiral M.L. Tidd, suspended one he issued about a month ago. "My memorandum of 13 April 2011 is hereby suspended until further notice pending additional legal and policy review and inter-Departmental coordination," Tidd wrote on Tuesday to all Navy chaplains and "religious program specialists." The green light for gay marriage on military bases prompted a new round of...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Under pressure from more than five dozen House lawmakers, the Navy late Tuesday abruptly reversed its decision that would have allowed chaplains to perform same-sex unions if the Pentagon decides to recognize openly gay military service later this year. In a one-sentence memo obtained by The Associated Press, Rear Adm. Mark Tidd, chief of Navy chaplains, said his earlier decision has been "suspended until further notice pending additional legal and policy review and interdepartmental coordination." The Navy said its lawyers wanted to do a more thorough review of the legal decision that allowed Navy chaplains to receive...

The newly retired commander of Army forces in the Pacific says the Obama administration’s “rush to repeal” the ban on openly gay men and women serving in the military “is moving way too fast” and risks damaging the armed forces’ fighting ability. Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, who retired May 1 after 35 years in the Army, told The Washington Times that he is concerned that repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy will cause problems with morale and mean the military will be less ready and able to fight. “There’s no question in my mind that this is...

December 9, 2010 The other WikiLeaks scandal: media coverup By Wes Vernon Few outrages are so infuriating as a mainstream media blackout of relevant facts that pose threats to its agenda. The most obvious Pravda-style see-no-evil going on right now is the refusal to use terms such as "Islamofascism," "radical Islam," "Islamist," or even "War on Terror," lest the public become aware of "politically incorrect" facts about the forces behind terror threats, suicide bombings, and mass murder plots. That's one example. Here's another case: The latest forbidden fact Since the latest barrage of leaked government cables by the WikiLeaks cyber-terrorist...

Camp Pendleton — The presentation was direct, even matter-of-fact, giving no hint of the large-scale cultural shift that the new policy represents — or of the passionate debate it provoked among politicians, religious leaders and other civilians. There is a new policy, the young-looking colonel told 50-plus enlisted Marines sitting in the pews of an aging chapel on this sprawling base. You will follow the policy, he said in a calm tone. If you have trouble with the policy, please see your sergeant or chaplain. "The leadership will try to work with you and get you through it," he said....

If a Marine spots two men in his battalion kissing off-duty at a shopping mall, he should react as if he were seeing a man and woman. If he turns on the television news to see a fellow Marine dressed as a civilian and marching in a parade with a banner that reads, "Support Gays and Lesbians in the Military!" he should accept it as a free right of expression. Prescriptions for those possible scenarios are being played out at Marine bases as the military prepares to allow gays to openly serve, ending a 17-year-old policy commonly known as "don't...

In December, the lame duck session of Congress coming to grips with their sudden and looming loss of power to ram destructive laws down our throats passed a repeal of the law popularly known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But, repeal wasn't automatic. In order for repeal to become effective, the president, the Secretary of Defense, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must certify that changing it will not hurt the armed services' readiness, morale or cohesion. A few weeks ago, Pentagon officials told a House subcommittee that training for implementation of repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't...

Getting straight to the point, male-on-male kissing is the first scenario Marines are discussing at Camp Pendleton as they learn about the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and what it means for them. Marines may also have to get used to living with an openly gay service member, recruiters could be punished for barring enlistees that talk about being gay and early discharges may not be granted for those that disagree with the repeal, according to training materials released this month by the Marine Corps.

The impending repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy will, for the first time ever, allow gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly in military ranks. After the president signed into law legislation that set conditions which must be met for the repeal, the Marine Corps began comprehensive training to educate all Marines on the coming legal and professional changes. While debate over the policy polarized the political world and gripped national headlines, senior enlisted Marines at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., said that in the wake of the order, they anticipate little trouble implementing the...

<p>COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Navy has dropped dismissal proceedings against a South Carolina-based sailor who was charged with unprofessional conduct after he was found in the same bed with another male sailor, a spokesman said Friday.</p> <p>The Navy no longer has a dismissal case against Petty Officer Stephen Jones, said spokesman Thomas Dougan, who wouldn't discuss any details.</p>

In the media’s version of events, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) was “homophobic.” Critics, however, insist it’s harsh to frame DADT supporter and former President Clinton as a bigot and laughable to portray the Swedish military model as strategic. Like the abortion controversy too, DADT isn’t going away. Moreover, it’s possible that the issue will benefit conservative Republicans in the long-term, because conservative American voters have always had more faith in representative U.S. combat soldiers, than Washington legislators. There is indeed another side to the narrative, or many sides, outside of MSNBC’s newsroom, without question.

Obama militants shoot warrior tradition first, ask questions later "We used to conform behavior to the military. Now we're conforming the military to behavior." Rep. Allen B. West, Florida Republican, belled the cat neatly during a hearing last Friday on the military's breakneck pace in implementing the new lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) law. Mr. West, whose 20-plus years in the U.S. Army included combat commands, noted that he and others at Fort Bragg had to endure "sensitivity training" in the 1990s. It didn't enhance the "warrior ethos," he recalled. What became clear at the hearing of the House...