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A highly decorated Kirtland Air Force Base colonel who refused to sign a certificate of appreciation for a retiring master sergeant’s same-sex spouse says he was wrongly disciplined for following his religious beliefs.
Col. Leland Bohannon was relieved of command and a letter was sent by a superior officer recommending against his promotion after an Equal Opportunity complaint against him was substantiated. A religious liberties group is now demanding the reversal of the decision.
In May, Bohannon, then the commander of the Air Force Inspection Agency headquartered at Kirtland, was asked to sign certificates for a retiring master sergeant, including a “certificate of spouse appreciation,” according to an appeal letter to the Air Force from First Liberty Institute sent on Oct. 5.
The certificate is one traditionally given to the spouses of retiring military members; it is not legally required to be given and is not an official document.
Bohannon did not sign the certificate for the master sergeant’s same-sex spouse, as it conflicted with his religious beliefs.
According to the letter, Bohannon consulted others on the base, and his command chaplain suggested he file a religious accommodation request that would excuse him from signing the certificate.
That request was returned “without action” six weeks later, the letter states.
Instead, an off-base superior officer agreed to sign the certificate in Bohannon’s place.
The master sergeant subsequently filed an Equal Opportunity complaint, alleging Bohannon unlawfully discriminated against him due to his sexual orientation by not signing the certificate himself.
The complaint was substantiated, and Bohannon was removed from command. A letter was sent by a superior officer to the Air Force Brigadier General promotion board, recommending Bohannon not receive a promotion.
He has since been transferred to Washington, D.C., said attorney Mike Berry of First Liberty Institute, who is representing Bohannon.
Berry said the Air Force doesn’t provide clear guidelines to members in situations such as Bohannon’s.
“There was no guidance for him to know how to navigate that,” he said. “… The accommodation should have been granted.”
He said he was unsure of why Bohannon’s religious accommodation request was returned “without action,” as the only two options for such requests are typically approval or denial.
Berry also argues that the directive informing the Air Force’s Equal Opportunity policy enacted in 2016 contradicts existing law, in that it includes sexual orientation in the definition of “sex.”
“No airman … should ever have to forfeit their religious beliefs in order to serve in the military,” Berry said.
Paula Neira, a transgender Navy veteran, attorney and clinical program director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender Health, equated Bohannon’s actions with “bigotry.”
“The military is a secular institution and if an individual’s deeply held religious beliefs prevent them from doing their duty and leading/treating all of their subordinates equally then they need to resign,” she said in an email.
A Kirtland Air Force Base spokesman referred inquiries on the case to Air Force headquarters.
“The Air Force is aware of the issue, and is working it through the proper channels,” Air Force spokesman Maj. Ethan Stoker said in an email.
In addition to reversal of the substantiated Equal Opportunity complaint, Bohannon is seeking removal of any associated unfavorable materials from his service record. He is also requesting that adequate training be given to commanders on how to deal with similar situations in the future.
“He, like me, hopes for a swift and favorable outcome,” Berry said.
Berry said they will take legal action should it become necessary.
According to an August 2015 article in the Kirtland Air Force Base Nucleus newspaper, Bohannon has more than 3,300 flying hours as a pilot, including combat missions.
He was awarded the Bronze Star after service in Afghanistan.
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©2017 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
McRaven: China's massive military buildup is a 'holy sh*t' moment
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
The legendary former Navy SEAL Adm. Bill McRaven said at an event on Wednesday that China's technical and national defense capabilities were quickly approaching — and sometimes surpassing — those of the US, representing what he called a "holy s---" moment for the US.
McRaven, who was the head of Special Operations Command during the 2011 operation on the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound, said at the Council on Foreign Relations event that "we need to make sure that the American public knows that now is the time to do something" about China's rapid increases in research and developments in technology that threaten US national security.
The Army is going all-in on killer apps for its next-generation squad weapon
If the Army's Next Generation Squad Weapon program is supposed to produce the iPhone of lethality, then the service is looking for as many killer apps as possible.
Trump taps hostage negotiator Robert O’Brien as fourth national security adviser
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday named U.S. hostage negotiator Robert O'Brien as his choice to replace John Bolton as his national security adviser, making him the fourth person to hold the post in the Trump administration.
Editor's Note: This article by Gina Harkins originally appeared on Military.com, a leading source of news for the military and veteran community.
QUANTICO MARINE CORPS BASE, Virginia -- Textron Systems is working with the Navy to turn a mine-sweeping unmanned surface vessel designed to work with Littoral Combat Ships into a mine-hunting craft armed with Hellfire missiles and a .50-caliber machine gun.
Textron displayed the proof-of-concept, surface-warfare mission package designed for the Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle (CUSV) at Modern Day Marine 2019.
"It's a huge capability," Wayne Prender, senior vice president for Applied Technologies and Advanced Programs at Textron Systems, told Military.com on Tuesday.
VA reassigns 9 officials after Vietnam vet found covered in ants at Atlanta VAMC
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs put on leave an Atlanta-based administrator and reassigned the region's chief medical officer and seven other staff members while it investigates the treatment of a veteran under its care.
Joel Marrable's daughter discovered more than 100 ant bites on her father when she visited him in early September.
The daughter, Laquna Ross, told Channel 2 Action News: "His room had ants, the ceiling, the walls, the beds. They were everywhere. The staff member says to me, 'When we walked in here, we thought Mr. Marrable was dead. We thought he wasn't even alive, because the ants were all over him.'"