A series of pertinent – and impertinent – observations about military justice
FAT BOYS AND GIRLS. According to the Military Times, our service members are fatter than ever; in the Army, more than one in 10 soldiers is considered clinically overweight, according to new Defense Department data.
RELIGION IN THE WORKPLACE? A group advocating the separation of church and state is
demanding the Air Force rebuke a commander who expressed his Christian beliefs in an
interview in a “Meet your leadership” question-and-answer session at Incirlik Air Base Turkey, a commander answered a question about his greatest life influences by citing Jesus Christ, his
“guide [Who] affects all of my decisions. He teaches to do all things as unto the Lord and I
believe this is synonymous with integrity first and excellence in all we do.”The interview drew the ire of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which sent a protest
letter to the base commander.
BAD RESULT FOR MILITARY RESERVISTS. A Federal circuit court has delivered a Civil
Relief Act blow to the rights of reservists, based on a contract agreement. The case involved a
Navy man who claimed his civilian employer fired him because he was mobilized and deployed to Afghanistan. This violates Federal laws designed to protect reservists from discrimination based on their military service. Kevin Ziober lost his case before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, one step below the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that his pre-employment arbitration agreement prohibited him from suing his former employer.
VAPING. A Washington think tank suggests that DOD should pay close attention to the rise in
vaping among soldiers, given new research showing a strong negative link between e-cigarettes and traditional smoking among young people.
ANOTHER AIR FORCE PROMOTION SYSTEM – HERE WE GO AGAIN. According to the
Air Force Times, USAF is undergoing a widespread revamp of how it evaluates and promotes
its officers, about a year after wrapping up a similar overhaul of its enlisted performance system..
PT TESTING SCREW-UP. Goodfellow AFB Texas’ outdoor running course was inspected
earlier this year and found to be 85 feet longer than required. That caused 18 airmen to fail the
fitness test who would otherwise have passed, the Air Force concedes. The Air Force also said
the indoor running track at Hanscom AFB, Mass was 360 feet longer than required, which caused 41 airmen to wrongly fail their fitness tests. All bases have been ordered to re-certify their running and walking courses by the end of October to make sure there aren’t any more problems.
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