JBSA (Joint Base San Antonio) Follow-up

From: (Active Duty U.S. Army Enlisted Member/MRFF Client’s e-mail address withheld)
Subject: JBSA (Joint Base San Antonio) Follow-up
Date: August 23, 2024 at 12:59:53 PM MDT
To: Mikey Weinstein <[email protected]>

Mr. Mikey Weinstein,

I want to thank you for your prompt and effective assistance with a recent request I made to your organization.

I am an enlisted member of the Army stationed at JBSA (Joint Base San Antonio) – Fort Sam Houston, TX. For the last few years while assigned here I have encountered repeated incidents (multiple times a week) of the entry point guards ending their ID checks with “Have a blessed day.”  While seemingly innocent this imposes a religious aspect onto a required military interaction.

There are many people I have spoken with over time at this assignment (approximately 40) and all have experienced the same greeting. There are many Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen on post here. This is a major training center as well as having a MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), the number of forced religious tinged interactions must be immense. Even religious personnel I have spoken with about this have conceded that it is an unconstitutional situation for someone in a position of authority to impose upon others. We have armed personnel who have control of

whether you can gain entry injecting religious messaging, innocuous or not, into a professional encounter.

Last week after the third or fourth instance of the week I attempted to find out how to contact the Security Forces Squadron on post to make a complaint.  Fortunately, during my search I found the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. I contacted your organization via email. Quickly thereafter your group followed up with me and asked for specifics about these interactions.  After providing that information you were able to immediately get to work contacting JBSA leadership.

I am pleased to let you know that what had previously been happening in almost every interaction dropped to one in ten. I want to again thank you and your organization for all that you have done and continue to do for our servicemen and women.

(Active Duty U.S. Army Enlisted Member/MRFF Client’s name, rank, unit, and MOS all withheld)