MILITARY TIMES: Air Force – Religious intolerance claim unsubstantiated

Published On: October 11, 2013|Categories: News|2 Comments|

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Selected Article Excerpts:

  • The Air Force has found unsubstantiated the claim of a senior master sergeant who said he was reassigned after making known his religious objections to same-sex marriage.Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk, now assigned to the 59th Medical Wing, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, said he was relieved July 26 of his duties as first sergeant of the 326th Training Squadron and forced to take leave because he disagreed with his commanding officer’s position on gay marriage.

    The investigation, initiated Aug. 15 by Col. Mark Camerer, 37th Training Wing commander at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, found the claim unsubstantiated. The investigation also concluded Monk made false official statements, but did not violate Articles 107 or 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

    “The weight of the evidence shows that religion was never discussed between the two,” Camerer said in an Air Education and Training Command release. “In the end, this is a case about command authority, good order and discipline, and civil rights — not religious freedoms,” he said.

    Monk was not removed from his position, but rather moved, as scheduled, to another Lackland unit, an assignment he was notified of in April, the release says.

  • The investigating officer, an Air Force colonel, wrote in his report, “Based on his training as a first sergeant, Senior Master Sgt. Monk should have known that discriminatory remarks on the basis of sexual orientation are against Air Force Policy. He should have also known, while Air Force members do have the right to speech and religion, that right does not mean airmen can say whatever they want, whenever they want.”
  • The Air Force said it will not take any disciplinary actions against either Monk or his commander as a result of the investigation.

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2 Comments

  1. Truth October 13, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    Wow…precedent set…MRFF takes an AF investigation at face value…everyone remember this…documents don’t lie..but USAF PA does…http://libertyinstitute.org/u.s.-air-force-officially-accused-smsgt-phillip-monk-of-lying

  2. John Vettel, LtCol, USAF(Ret) March 17, 2014 at 7:31 pm

    Assuming the above report is accurate, it would appear that this Air Force Colonel is regurgitating the politically correct crap that seems to be the norm in today’s Air Force. I am sad that the service that was so good to me – a service that I was proud to claim as my own, has deteriorated into one run by officers with no backbone.

    To my mind, allowing open homosexuality in the military is a travesty.

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