West Point grad now a conscientious objector

[Associate289]

[quote="ArmyTimes"]FORT DRUM, N.Y. — A pacifist West Point graduate who sued the Army while serving in Iraq has been granted conscientious objector status and given an honorable discharge.

Capt. Peter Brown, a 2004 graduate and member of the 10th Mountain Division, said his religious convictions prevented him from carrying a loaded weapon or ordering his men to use lethal force.

“I’m relieved the Army recognized that my religious beliefs made it impossible for me to serve as a soldier,â€

[Aries]

never wouldve imagined him going CO. He seemed pretty motivated.

[I274]

You knew him??

This made the rounds the first thing in the morning... a lot of psssd old grads.

[Aries]

You knew him??

This made the rounds the first thing in the morning... a lot of psssd old grads.

he was my classmate, and if i recall correctly was in my regiment (think he was C4). not sure if he was in my Air Assault course or not, but I do know I had a few classes with him.

yeah, as someone who left USMA its hard for me to point the finger and call someone out on some things, but at the same time, they taught us there that we were in the profession of defending, and defending means killing when necessary.

[CDT_TEX]

At least he seemed to do the right thing by going through his COC who seemed to agree with him before going public.

I really wouldn't my kids or friends being commanded by a guy who has reservations about trigger pulling.

Personally, my God is the same one who told the Israelites to go forth, kick ass, and take names, or something like that. So I don't really feel that squimish about it.

---TEX

[MansonTheTool]

Are there any religious texts that would preclude me from continuing my gold bar recruiting duties and get me toward BOLC/OBC faster? I'll need to read up on those if anyone can send them to me.

[CDT_TEX]

I'm not sure, but all this talk about religion makes me want to get Pastafarian put on my dog tags.

---TEX

[Aries]

i either had christian or my rifle zero on mine at USMA. FSU ROTC gave me crap for wanting to put "Christian" on it, saying since it was my "faith" i had to put a specific denomination. I wonder if I couldve gotten them shit over that.

[Associate289]

i either had christian or my rifle zero on mine at USMA. FSU ROTC gave me crap for wanting to put "Christian" on it, saying since it was my "faith" i had to put a specific denomination. I wonder if I couldve gotten them shit over that.

?? I've seen "Christian" on ID tags before. Then again, I've also seen "Jedi" and "Norse Mythology".

[Aries]

yeah. they were bitches. I ended up putting methodist (which is how I was raised) and not fighting them. although I never wore that pair, i just wore my Christian ones. it was part of the sign up shit that I had to get from ROTC. really bothered me that they made me go denominational. if I am dying on the battlefield, i wont get offended if you bring over a lutheran minister to pray with me.

[Skull6]

LOL. I lost a bet once, & had to get "reformed druid" on a set of dogtags I had to wear for over a month once--back at my alma mater. (No, I'm Lutheran, thankyouverymuch)

& as to this CO, I'll quote another dead guy y'all should know very well...


...The long gray line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses, thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.

This does not mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."... - GEN Douglas MacArthur

A million ghosts...if I was this guy, I think I'd be a bit concerned. I274 said there were "a lot of psssd old grads" in his AO this morning. I sat through an hour-long meeting this morning, where the topic of discussion was this individual--for 30 of the 60 minutes. Most were "pssed" off at this kid & his actions--young & old, grad or no...& I'm one of them.

Aries, don't they take the oath when they join up at Hudson High anymore? I'll just lump him in with that LT from HI that refused to deploy with his unit from Ft Lewis, & call it a day. David threw a freakin stone & slew Goliath, fer cryin out loud! God didn't put David down for going against that commandment--rather, he eventually made him KING!

P.S. Read my sig below--I think it quite apropos for this topic.

[Aries]

heres the previous thread (http://www.aisforarmy.com/bb/viewtopic.php?highlight=objector&t=4922)

yeah skull, I wrote that same damn thing in the first one. I just try to do my best now to honor the fact that my resume and transcript has USMA listed on it, and that although not serving, i continue to "grip hands" with those that came before me and will come after me.

[I274]

'word has it that we got three of navy's goats.

don't know if we will see them being returned at the game... usually the supe's get involved and make them return it beforehand.

8-)

[Aries]

'word has it that we got three of navy's goats.

don't know if we will see them being returned at the game... usually the supe's get involved and make them return it beforehand.

8-)

shit, last time they did that it was a NY Times article. Lennox wasn't to happy about it. They keep there goats on a farm with no security (Army Mules are housed on post right next to the MP station).

[Skull6]

What can I say? I guess it truely is a "kinder, gentler" faggoty Navy.

USAFA keeps their Falcons under lock & key with surveillance cameras around the exterior of the building...way out on the USAFA reservation.

[kleinmi3]

He sounds like a loose cannon. Apparently the Oath of Office means more to some than others. I'd rather take a bullet than take back my Oath. What was his branch?

[Aries]

He sounds like a loose cannon. Apparently the Oath of Office means more to some than others. I'd rather take a bullet than take back my Oath. What was his branch?

IN I believe. and he was far from being a loose cannon.

[I274]

Apparently Navy got their goats back according to this local newspaper article.

Sports
Navy mascot survives alleged ‘goat-napping’
Ron Snyder, The Examiner
2007-11-29 08:00:00.0

BALTIMORE -
Bill the Goat is safe and sound at his home at the Naval Academy Dairy Farm in Gambrills — now.
Bill XXXII, Bill XXXIII and Bill XXXIV, the three angora goats that serve as the Naval Academy’s mascot, were taken from their home some time on Nov. 17 allegedly by West Point cadets during "Operation Good Shepherd," the code name used for the "goat-nappers," according to the a Naval Academy spokesman.

Proof of the clandestine operation, which ended Sunday with the goats’ safe return, was first discovered on YouTube.com

"The Naval Academy was happy to learn about the safe return of our mascots, after being goat-napped, apparently by West Point cadets," said Naval Academy spokesman Deborah Goode in a statement.

In the YouTube clip, which was first reported on in The Capital, many of the thieves are seen dressed in Army camouflage and wearing ski masks. However, it is unclear whether the culprits are cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. Navy has three goats that rotate serving as the school’s mascot.

Pranks are common in the weeks leading into the annual Army-Navy football game. The 108th meeting between the rival service academies takes place at noon on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

"We never confirm or deny the existence of nuclear weapons, special operations forces or goat kidnappings. However, it is our understanding that the goats are in better shape now than they have ever been," said West Point spokesman Frank DeMaro in statement.

Though attempts at stealing each other’s mascots in nothing new between Army and Navy, the power of the Internet has taken it to a new level.

On the YouTube footage, there are shots of the goatnappers preparing for the heist in a hotel room, along with shots of a goat in a large van and all three of the mascots in an unknown barn.

"Although there is a Memorandum of Agreement between the Commandants of the Military Academy and the Naval Academy prohibiting goat (and/or mule)-napping, it ‘gets our goat’ that some members of the Corps of Cadets seem to continue to ignore this agreement," Goode said. "The goats are as spirited as ever and look forward to being on-hand as we ‘Beat Army’ Saturday."

SEE FOR YOURSELF
Want to see the goat-napping? Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgAcXTzf-8s or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY705TNzEus.
rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com
Examiner

[GIJared]

Outstanding.

[Un4given]

Hmmm... Well if an IO and a Chap said the guy is sincere, I am a firm believer of the "system". So maybe it is a legit deal.

And since I don't want to be questioned or persecuted or judged on my spiritual beliefs as a Christian, I'm not going to do any of that toward that man.

Now would I prefer him to pay his dues just as all of us should... Of course. Maybe a desk jockey somewhere. There's jobs all throughout the Army which require zero trigger squeezing.



Now for this academy stuff... Heh, it's going to be interesting this weekend. We have a lot of Navy and a lot of Army here in AJ.

[Aries]

coming up with a plan to steal the goat was actually the midterm for my special operations class.

[CDT_TEX]

If you pause the youtube video, you can actually read the powerpoint slides that have the OPORD on it, including Mission and tasks to subordinate units. Great work. The best part was they were all just chilling out at the Holiday in looking like the Minnesota Militia.

---TEX

[Aries]

If you pause the youtube video, you can actually read the powerpoint slides that have the OPORD on it, including Mission and tasks to subordinate units. Great work. The best part was they were all just chilling out at the Holiday in looking like the Minnesota Militia.

---TEX

like I said, MIDTERM project. The guys that took the goats in 2002 never made it to their full OPORD. When they went to do recon they realized that there was no security so they just picked up the goats and put them in the back of the truck.

article (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E2D7153BF936A35751C1A9649C8B 63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/U/United%20States%20Naval%20Academy)

[Un4given]

I think it's an interesting feud. I think putting the "treaty" into effect effectively lowered morale. That aint going to stand. It's just a little fun and nobody is getting hurt, except for the feelings of some cadets/midshipmen. They'll be fine.

[Skull6]

What are you talkin 'bout, Willis?!

Some of those midshipmen are sure to suffer blooballs from the loss of their goat!