Uncle Sam wants US Muslims to serve

[peezey 0]

from the December 27, 2006 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1227/p03s01-usmi.html

Uncle Sam wants US Muslims to serve

The Pentagon builds Islamic prayer rooms and hires imams to make military life more appealing.

By Richard Whittle | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON

As US troops battle Islamic extremists abroad, the Pentagon and the armed forces are reaching out to Muslims at home.

An underlying goal is to interest more Muslims in the military, which needs officers and troops who can speak Arabic and other relevant languages and understand the culture of places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The effort is also part of a larger outreach. Pentagon officials say they are striving for mutual understanding with Muslims at home and abroad and to win their support for US war aims. Among the efforts to attract and retain Muslim cadets:

• West Point and the other service academies have opened Muslim prayer rooms, as have military installations.

• Imams serve full- and part-time as chaplains at the academies and some bases.

• Top non-Muslim officers and Pentagon officials have taken to celebrating religious events with Muslims overseas and here in the US.

"There is a message here, and that is that Muslims and the Islamic religion are totally compatible with Western values," says Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England in an interview.

For the past two years, Mr. England has hosted an iftar, the feast that ends the daytime fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Va. His guests have included ambassadors, leaders of the Muslim-American community, and Muslims who serve in the US armed forces.

President Bush also hosted an iftar at the White House in October, as he has done for several years. Gen. Robert Magnus, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, held one the same month at the Marine Corps Barracks in Washington for defense attachés from predominantly Muslim nations.

The US armed services don't recruit by religion, but the Pentagon estimates at least 3,386 Muslims were serving in the US military as of September. No precise figures are available because, while US service members are surveyed on their religion, they aren't required to disclose it. Advocacy groups put the number at 15,000, saying many are reluctant to reveal their religion. African-Americans represent the largest share of Muslims in uniform, they add.

However uncertain the progress, the military is intensifying its outreach.

On June 6 - the anniversary of D-Day, he notes - Mr. England helped dedicate a new Islamic prayer center at the Quantico Marine Corps Base near Washington, whose 6,100 marines include about 24 Muslims, according to Lt. Cmdr. Abuhena Saifulislam, a Navy chaplain who serves as their imam.

The Marines also have allowed Muslims in their ranks at Quantico some dispensations to make it easier to practice their religion, says Lieutenant Commander Saifulislam, a US citizen born and raised in Bangladesh. During Ramadan, "they're allowed to have some time off to prepare for their fasting break and not to go to physical training" while fasting, he says.

Muslim troops say misunderstandings and friction with non-Muslims in uniform arise sometimes, but practicing Islam in a military at war with extremists who profess the same faith isn't a burden, they add.

Petty Officer Third Class Nicholas Burgos, a Sunni Muslim training to be a Navy SEAL, or commando, says instructors sometimes goad him by calling him "Osama bin Burgos" or asking if he's training to help the Taliban. But "it's all in good fun," he insists.

"It's all about how much mental stress you can deal with while you're in training," Petty Officer Burgos says. "I just laugh or have a smirk on my face."

His father, Asadullah Burgos, is the part-time imam at the US Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., whose roughly 4,000 cadets include 32 Muslims, 12 of whom are foreign students.

"There's been some insults and some taunting, but it's been handled at the cadet level," Imam Burgos says. "Usually that's due to ignorance."

Col. John Cook, the senior chaplain at West Point, says that after media reports about the academy's new Muslim prayer room, he got a call from a self-described "concerned citizen" who fretted that "the Muslims are taking over the world."

"I told him, 'I'm a Christian chaplain, but I have the responsibility to provide for other faith groups,' " Colonel Cook says. Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish cadets all have their own chapels at West Point, he notes.

Marine Sgt. Jamil Alkattan, a Sunni Muslim of Syrian heritage from South Bend, Ind., says his religion, his knowledge of Arabic, and his familiarity with Arab culture were major assets during two tours in Iraq.

Not only was he able to teach fellow marines key Arabic phrases and explain that all Muslims aren't extremists, he says, but he also was able to befriend locals, who brought him vital intelligence. "They would come to me and say, 'I know where bombs are,' and this and that," Sergeant Alkattan says. "I never got to sleep. They would come at night time and tell me, 'Hey, I think these guys [insurgents] are trying to set you guys up,' or, 'I've seen these guys with an IED [improvised bomb].' I think it stopped a lot of things that could have happened."

Under a new Middle East Cultural Outreach Program created by the Marine Corps, Sergeant Alkattan is one of six Arab-American marines selected to be stationed in major American cities as liaisons to the Arab-American community and advisers to recruiters.

The program was conceived by Gunnery Sgt. Jamal Baadani, a Muslim born in Cairo who emigrated to Michigan when he was 10.

"It is not a direct recruiting program," says Sergeant Baadani, but its goal is to educate recruiters to avoid cultural no-nos and foster good relations with Arab-American communities. The "overall objective ... is to develop solid relationships with the Arab and Muslim communities for the 21st and 22nd centuries. This isn't something that's just a Band-Aid treatment."

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Burnin time ! As always.

Edited December 28, 2006 by CarolsMarc

[pedroh 21]

well I don't see how would muslims be exempt from serving the country they live in... i don't think if a muslim guy goes to the recruiting office the office will be like 'nah, u are muslim, u can't serve'

[dani_christine 0]

beautiful. muslims are 0.6% of the US population, according to wikkipedia. what a freaking great idea.

[Aymerlu 3]

I don't see why religion is being thrown into recruitment.

[keltic 1]

I don't see why religion is being thrown into recruitment.

thats what i was thinking...

Before you visit your local recruiter, be sure you meet the minimum qualifications for serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Some qualifications are required by all five services:

`You must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

`You must be at least 17 years old (17-year old applicants require parental consent).

`You must (with very few exceptions) have a high school diploma.

`You must pass a physical medical exam.

For each branch, there are slightly different enlistment requirements:

To join the... You must:

Air Force

Be between the ages of 17-27. *

Have no more than two dependents.

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 36)

Army

Be between the ages of 17-42. *

Have no more than two dependents.

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 31)

National Guard

Be between the ages of 17-42. *

Have no more than two dependents.

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 31)

Coast Guard

Be between the ages of 17-27. *

Have no more than two dependents.

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 36)

Have a willingness to serve on or around the water.

Marines

Meet exacting physical, mental, and moral standards.

Be between the ages of 17-29. *

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 31)

Women are eligible to enlist in all occupations with exception of combat arms specialties: infantry, tank and amphibian tractor crew members.

Navy

Be between the ages of 17-34. *

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 35)

Women are eligible to enlist in all occupational fields, with the exception of serving in the Navy SEALs or on submarines.

* 17-year old applicants require parental consent.

http://www.military.com/Recruiting/Content...bility,,00.html

maybe i missed something... i didnt find anything about religion as a criteria/ineligibility... thought there was supposed to be a separation of church and state

[Ban Hammer 14,297]

so when are you joining, peezey?

[Robor007 0]

I don't see what the big deal is. In skimming the article it appears that they're just making military life more accommodating to those of Muslim faith. Or did I miss something?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I don't see why religion is being thrown into recruitment.

thats what i was thinking...

Before you visit your local recruiter, be sure you meet the minimum qualifications for serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Some qualifications are required by all five services:

`You must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

`You must be at least 17 years old (17-year old applicants require parental consent).

`You must (with very few exceptions) have a high school diploma.

`You must pass a physical medical exam.

For each branch, there are slightly different enlistment requirements:

To join the... You must:

Air Force

Be between the ages of 17-27. *

Have no more than two dependents.

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 36)

Army

Be between the ages of 17-42. *

Have no more than two dependents.

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 31)

National Guard

Be between the ages of 17-42. *

Have no more than two dependents.

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 31)

Coast Guard

Be between the ages of 17-27. *

Have no more than two dependents.

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 36)

Have a willingness to serve on or around the water.

Marines

Meet exacting physical, mental, and moral standards.

Be between the ages of 17-29. *

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 31)

Women are eligible to enlist in all occupations with exception of combat arms specialties: infantry, tank and amphibian tractor crew members.

Navy

Be between the ages of 17-34. *

Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test. (Minimum AFQT Score: 35)

Women are eligible to enlist in all occupational fields, with the exception of serving in the Navy SEALs or on submarines.

* 17-year old applicants require parental consent.

http://www.military.com/Recruiting/Content...bility,,00.html

maybe i missed something... i didnt find anything about religion as a criteria/ineligibility... thought there was supposed to be a separation of church and state

Religion itself per-se is not a criterion of ineligibility.

However, some customs may come in conflict with established military regulations--the case of Clark Harris aka "Santosh Singh Khalsa" about 20 years ago (orthodox Sikhs are NOT allowed to cut hair or shave beard--though they ARE required to keep it neat)

... with the name of Santosh Singh Khalsa in the 1980's and sued the USMC as discriminatory when they insisted he get their regulation haircut or be...

(as the link is a blog, I included a quote exerpt)

Anyway, if Muslim soldiers have already served in US military, then I'll venture that peezey has plenty of "time to kill".

[peezey 0]

####### with insults to me? What time to kill? I post a frickin' article and I'm attacked for it? I find it ridiculous the military would seek out Muslims in order to get Arabic speakers considering most of the Arabs in this country are Christian, and most of the Muslims in this country are not Arab.

[Jenn! 918]

Burnin time ! As always.

Can you explain what you mean by "burnin time"? I hope it's not what I think.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I don't see what the big deal is. In skimming the article it appears that they're just making military life more accommodating to those of Muslim faith. Or did I miss something?

That's about it.

[almaty 19]

Muslims in the U.S. military are as loyal as any, chaplain says

Saturday, October 20, 2001

By MIKE BARBER

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

FORT LEWIS -- Each Friday, soldiers in battle-dress camouflage here remove their boots, face Mecca and prostrate themselves, heads bowed to the carpet in obedience to Allah.

In the military base's Islamic Chapel Center, they recite their Jumah prayers, following the lead of Capt. James Yee, a West Point graduate and a convert to Islam who is chaplain of Fort Lewis' largest battalion.

More than a month after terrorist attacks sent the United States into war against Middle Eastern terrorists who twist Islam to validate their perversions, Yee and military chaplains in general are playing increasingly important roles.

And in the first U.S. war with religious overtones, especially after calls by terrorists for "holy war" against the United States, Yee has become one of the most sought-after figures at the base, called upon to edify others about Islam and to elaborate on the relationship between soldiering and spirituality.

"Most people want to know how Sept. 11 fits into Islam," said Yee, 33, a former Lutheran who specialized in air artillery defense and was a Patriot missile fire control officer before becoming a chaplain.

"What happened is un-Islamic and categorically denied by a great majority of Muslim scholars around the world," he said of the terrorists who commandeered passenger jets and slammed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing people from all faiths.

Yee is chaplain of the 700-member 29th Signal Battalion, which counts nearly a dozen Muslim soldiers in its ranks. He estimates that there are 100 to 150 Muslim soldiers at Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base.

The number of Muslims in the U.S. military is hard to estimate. Estimates vary from 4,000 to more than 12,000. Armywide, Yee knows of at least seven other posts with Muslim chaplains.

Qaseem Uqdah, a former Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who heads the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council in Washington, D.C., counts upwards of 15,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and Coast Guard members.

The average age of U.S. Muslim troops is 21, Uqdah said. Most are married, with one child.

Like servicemen and women of other faiths, American troops who study Islam's Quran are as loyal as anyone, said Uqdah, whose organization helps recruit and endorse Muslim chaplains for the armed forces.

"These troops are focusing on getting ready and are ready to execute the commander in chief's orders," Uqdah said. "Muslim men and women are no different from anyone else in the military."

Uqdah believes the presence of Muslim chaplains in the military is sending "a profound message to the world."

As a chaplain, Yee is available as a ready counselor and sympathetic ear to soldiers of all faiths, as well as a spiritual leader for Muslim soldiers, just at Protestant, Catholic and Jewish chaplains lead services in their respective faiths.

"I serve all the soldiers here. The role of a chaplain is to help facilitate the free exercise of religion. That's our main job," Yee said. "Chaplains aren't in the soldier's chain of command, but provide another channel ... to share feelings or complain without ramifications."

The first Muslim chaplain in the U.S. military, Army Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad, on Oct. 11 participated in memorial services at the Pentagon, reading from the Quran. Muslims in other countries who see American Muslim chaplains praying at the Pentagon, "will see that Muslims are not being oppressed in America," he said.

These days, Yee and other Muslim chaplains find themselves not only edifying non-Muslims about Islam, but advising troops who follow the Quran and who wonder what Islamic law says about fighting other Muslims.

Such concerns generally are no different than those any soldier brings up when faced with combat, Yee said.

"Taking up arms and killing is an issue all soldiers have to deal with," said Yee, adding that some Muslims will feel a conflict between their faith and going to war no matter who is the enemy.

"I encourage them to go," Yee said.

Said Uqdah: "They (Muslim service men and women) already made a decision when they joined the service. The Quran tells you to honor your contracts. They were not coerced, they were freely entered into, they were not drafted."

Several months ago Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad, asked Islamic scholars to issue a "fatwa," or religions opinion, on the question. The supportive opinion said Muslims have a duty to fight terrorism.

Yee recently wrote a piece for Fort Lewis' newspaper, the Northwest Guardian, titled "Islam, what is there to fear?"

"I wanted to address some of the reasons why people in the United States are having a difficult time distinguishing between the religion of Islam and the actions almost everyone witnessed on Sept. 11 by some Muslims," Yee said.

"When Mohammed Ali, the boxing champ, visited the attack site at the World Trade Center, a reporter asked him, 'How do you feel about the suspected hijackers sharing your faith?'" Yee noted. Ali answered, "How do you feel about Hitler sharing yours?"

The point, said Yee, is that while a person can be of a certain faith, his or her actions don't always fall within the teachings of that faith.

Uqdah and Yee said that Muslim soldiers know how to balance religious obligations that involve five mandatory prayers a day with military duties.

"When it comes time to pray, what is required is that he or she be in a certain state of spiritual purification and needs a clean place to pray. They can do that almost anywhere," Yee said.

Interest in hiring Muslim chaplains escalated shortly after the Persian Gulf War in 1991. With Islam the fastest-growing religion in America, the services are moving to accommodate more followers. Uqdah said African Americans make up the largest ethnic group among Muslims, followed by Indo-Pakistanis, Arabs and Caucasians.

The military opened its first permanent Islamic prayer center, the Masjid al Da'wah, at the Norfolk, Va., Naval Air Station in 1997. As many as two dozen sailors attend weekly. Fort Lewis' Islamic center, formerly used for Protestant and Catholic services, became a Muslim center in 1998.

Nationwide, Uqdah, who is in touch with Muslim service members, said reports of anti-Muslim bias are rare among the services.

"President Bush set the tempo, and each commander sets zero tolerance," Uqdah said. "Religious bias, just like racial and sex discrimination, is not tolerated in the military."

dated..but still true..my son when in iraq, served with 3 us army regulars, who were muslims in his unit...

Edited December 28, 2006 by almaty

[Ban Hammer 14,297]

Burnin time ! As always.

Can you explain what you mean by "burnin time"? I hope it's not what I think.

link

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

The article clearly states why the military wants more Muslims to join... it seems that in their frenzy of knee-jerk reactions, a lot of commenters here have completely missed it:

An underlying goal is to interest more Muslims in the military, which needs officers and troops who can speak Arabic and other relevant languages and understand the culture of places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The effort is also part of a larger outreach. Pentagon officials say they are striving for mutual understanding with Muslims at home and abroad and to win their support for US war aims.

and

Marine Sgt. Jamil Alkattan, a Sunni Muslim of Syrian heritage from South Bend, Ind., says his religion, his knowledge of Arabic, and his familiarity with Arab culture were major assets during two tours in Iraq.

Not only was he able to teach fellow marines key Arabic phrases and explain that all Muslims aren't extremists, he says, but he also was able to befriend locals, who brought him vital intelligence. "They would come to me and say, 'I know where bombs are,' and this and that," Sergeant Alkattan says. "I never got to sleep. They would come at night time and tell me, 'Hey, I think these guys [insurgents] are trying to set you guys up,' or, 'I've seen these guys with an IED [improvised bomb].' I think it stopped a lot of things that could have happened."

Sounds like the military's reasoning is pretty good here.