MILITARY TIMES – ROTC program under review amid religion-based challenges

Published On: November 14, 2014|Categories: News|0 Comments|

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The Army’s ROTC program is undergoing a “holistic review” after a religious-freedom group blasted the service for advertising a Christian-only officer position at an Illinois college and a 19-year-old Sikh student at a different school filed a lawsuit when he was denied entry over grooming standards.

The review covers “ROTC agreements and policies in effect to ensure compliance with Army regulations and policies,” Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Alayne Conway said in a Wednesday email. Officials did not respond to questions on specifics, including what triggered the review and when it would wrap up.

Fox News first reported the review was in process in a Tuesday opinion piece on the first issue: The posting of an assistant professor of military science position at Wheaton College in Illinois that came with the advisory, “Must be of Christian faith.” The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a group that claims 39,000 active-duty troops among its members, found out about the posting late last month, founder and president Mikey Weinstein said.

“We thought it was a joke, at first,” Weinstein told Army Times, later calling the arrangement “an abhorrent nightmare.”

He penned a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh, dated Nov. 6, that suggested the Army “immediately eliminate the Constitutionally noxious … job requirement for the APMS slot at Wheaton College” and demanded the service begin an “aggressive and comprehensive investigation into all aspects of the Army’s ROTC program at Wheaton.”

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