Bring Me Men...or Whatever

I note that I didn't go to the school. I did serve in the organization for 23 years, I did work with a lot of the graduates of the school, and I did live about four minutes from the main gate of the school for 20 years, most of it after retirement.

I mentioned a while back an experience about five years ago when I spoke to a couple of history classes at the Academy on a Wednesday and then went to Univ. of Colorado Boulder to speak to the AFROTC wing on the next day. I was distinctly unimpressed with the motivation, attitudes, dress, demeanor and bearing of the USAFA students. I was dazzled by the drive, goals, dedication and involvement of the AFROTC students. That wasn't prejudice, it was objective observation...and a bit of disappointment.

I've known several faculty members at the academy over the years, most of them warriors and all of them aviators. To a man they expressed disappointment at the attitudes of academy leadership while at the same time indicating that the reason they were assigned there was in recognition of that attitude and in the hope of reinstilling the warrior ethic.

What to make of this:

Becoming One With the Mountain and the Forest

They appear to have lost connection with the mission of that establishment.

"When I first arrived here, Earth-centered cadets didn't have anywhere to call home," said Sgt. Robert Longcrier, the lay leader of the neo-pagan groups on base.

What the hell is an "Earth-centered cadet"? And, why is an E-4 in charge of anything that cadets are participating in? Where does he get authority to have any contact with cadets during their tightly scheduled day?

Who Is That Masked Man

Well, that certainly clears nothing up. Now we've got "Sgt" morphed into T/Sgt. But in one release we've got him first as Brandon and then as Robert. Apparently the earth spirits haven't firmly established a name for their minister.

But if you want fluff, here's the chief of chaplains spinning the politically correct wheels:

"Every servicemember is charged with defending freedom for all Americans, and that includes freedom to practice our religion of choice or, for that matter, not to practice any faith at all," said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) William Ziegler, Cadet Wing chaplain. "Being in the military isn't just a job -- it's a calling. We all take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and that means we've all sworn to protect one another's religious liberties. We all put on our uniforms the same way; we're all Airmen first."

The Constitution's First Amendment offers a two clause phrase on religion. The second clause allows that there shall be no law restricting free exercise of an individual's religion of choice. That's easy. Stay out of the way. The first clause is more complicated, however. It says "no law respecting an establishment of religion."

The idea there was to preclude a state religion but it goes further. Not only shall we make no law "establishing" a religion, more importantly we shall make no law "respecting an establishment..."

That legalistic convolution says that providing favoritism or respect for a particular establishment of religion, i.e. a faith or organization of religious worship is also beyond the pale.

Traditionally the nation has leaned heavily toward Christianity. The result has been a blind eye, and rightfully so, to the preference of the majority. Prayers before meetings of governments, chapels on military installations, crosses and Stars of David in military cemeteries, etc. have been acceptable.

But, there seems to be a point at which lines need to be drawn. We don't allow practicing Sikhs at the Academy to wear turbans and grow their beards. We don't allow Native American cadets to chew a bit of peyote in a sweat lodge on week-ends. We don't modify cadet rooms with compass oriented prayer mats pointed toward Mecca. No santaria slaughter of chickens and goats in the hallways.

We don't yet.

What does this have to do with leading men into battle?