{"id":107330,"date":"2020-11-18T07:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=107330"},"modified":"2020-11-17T20:54:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T01:54:05","slug":"mps-handcuff-detain-national-guard-chaplain-in-kuwait-for-wearing-headphones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=107330","title":{"rendered":"MPs handcuff, detain National Guard chaplain in Kuwait … for wearing headphones"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Chaplain rule breaker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Jeff LPH 3 sent me this one I was ready to make a joke like, “There’s a sergeant major somewhere very happy.” Turns out I didn’t need to, because of course this whole thing started with the fucking sergeant major.<\/p>\n

In a perfect encapsulation of 21st century life on Kuwait\u2019s Camp Buehring, a Pennsylvania Army National Guard chaplain was handcuffed and hauled off by military police after a dispute with the installation command sergeant major.<\/p>\n

What crime was committed by Capt. Justin Thomas, a chaplain who ministers to the 628th Aviation Support Battalion? Why, the unforgivable act of wearing headphones while walking, of course.<\/p>\n

Rumors about the harrowing incident were first circulated by U.S. Army W.T.F! moments, which shared a screenshot Friday of a related conversation.<\/p>\n

Thomas, as described, was casually strolling through the camp with his headphones in his ears when the sergeant major, eager to enforce installation policy, attempted to flag him down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first want to say that I don\u2019t harbor any hard feelings about this misunderstanding,\u201d Thomas told Military Times. \u201cThe Camp Buehring sergeant major was trying to do his job and enforce a policy about walking with headphones. … [He] was trying to get my attention, but I couldn\u2019t hear him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps exhaustion factored in the chaplain zoning out. Officials didn\u2019t specify whether Thomas was on a run at the time of the infraction, but previous Pennsylvania National Guard news articles paint a picture of an elite marathon runner and member of the All-Guard marathon team.<\/p>\n

Whatever the reason, Thomas was subsequently handcuffed before the camp\u2019s military police transported him to the station, where he was instructed to wait for his command to pick him up.<\/p>\n

The chaplain characterized the behavior of his captors as \u201cvery professional,\u201d adding that he was allowed to leave shortly after sorting out the miscommunication.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incident involving the 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade Chaplain was the result of a misunderstanding,\u201d said Capt. Jessica-Maria Jackson, Task Force Spartan\u2019s director of public affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chaplain is taking this opportunity to work with [the] Camp Buehring Sergeant Major to help raise awareness on safety during physical fitness training.\u201d<\/p>\n

A defense official told Military Times that one soldier who went to retrieve Thomas jokingly brought along a nail file tucked away inside a Bible, presumably to aid the holy man\u2019s escape.<\/p>\n

Officials could not say for certain whether the chaplain has called in an eternal favor against the sergeant major. Those odds are slim, according to Thomas, who has maintained a sense of humor about the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can I be a Chaplain and a leader to my Soldiers if I cannot demonstrate mercy, grace, and love, especially in a situation where the base [sergeant major] was trying to enforce a standard designed to keep our Soldiers safe?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So many E-9s with so little to do. We really need to evaluate just why we need so many sergeants major if they’ve got the time to go around post and look for petty violations.<\/p>\n

Source; Army Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Jeff LPH 3 sent me this one I was ready to make a joke like, … MPs handcuff, detain National Guard chaplain in Kuwait … for wearing headphones<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[209,220,359,406],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teh-stoopid","category-the-floggings-will-continue-until-morale-improves","category-army","category-guest-link"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107332,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107330\/revisions\/107332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}