A religion watchdog group is asking the Defense Department to investigate whether the Air Force Academy has given a Christian group improper access to the campus to proselytize cadets.

This would not be the first time the AFA has had an issue with support to or enforced support of a specific religion.

In June 2005; An Air Force panel sent to investigate the religious climate at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs found evidence that officers and faculty members periodically used their positions to promote their Christian beliefs and failed to accommodate the religious needs of non-Christian cadets, its leader said Wednesday.

In May 2005; The U.S. Air Force said Tuesday it will appoint a task force to investigate allegations of religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy. Among the items to be reviewed will be Air Force policy and guidance concerning religious respect and tolerance at the academy, said acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael Dominguez.

In December 2005;

Four Air Force officers — all graduates of the Air Force Academy class of 2004 — have recently joined a lawsuit that accuses leaders at the academy of overtly pressuring cadets to undertake evangelical religious instruction.

See here for concerns about a recent event at Fort Bragg, and here for Soldiers punished for not attending a religious event at Fort Eustis.

Here is an article from the Air Force Law Review: ARTICLE: RELIGION IN THE MILITARY: NAVIGATING THE CHANNEL BETWEEN THE RELIGION CLAUSES.

Mother Jones’ Adam Weinstein reports that soldiers at Virginia’s Fort Eustis were recently punished for refusing to attend one of the many Christian evangelical events sponsored by the commanding base general and “self-professed ‘reborn’ officer, Maj. General James E. Chambers.” The incident and subsequent investigation have revealed a Fort Eustis culture where Christian evangelism isn’t just pervasive, it’s a direct order. Weinstein explains that this isn’t just a quirky, isolated incident. It’s part of an increasingly zealous military culture of evangelical-or-else[.]

Here is a link to the Mother Jones article.

Here is a link to the May 2009 Harpers article.

AP has now picked up on the Smoking Gun pieces about the HIV airman at McConnell AFB. See here.