From: Active Duty U.S. Army Soldier's E-Mail Address Withheld
Subject: Mandatory Army Bible Study Stopped at Fort (Name Withheld)
Date: September 18, 2018
To: Mikey Weinstein

Military Religious Freedom Foundation Staff

We who are the soldiers of the (military unit and various military sub-units withheld) at Fort (U.S. Army installation name withheld) would like to thank you for the good material on your website about how military supervisors can't force their junior ranking soldiers to attend bible studies during duty hours. And also thank you Mr. Mikey Weinstein for the guidance over the phone about how to stop this.

Our (sub-unit supervisor's rank and title withheld) told us at the (name of regularly scheduled briefing withheld) that our (unit name withheld) Commander was holding a "morale-building bible study" each morning going forward at 0930 hours in the (unit assembly room name withheld). We were further told that not participating to "at least give it a try and support the Boss" was not an option. To make it worse we were told the that (military unit name withheld) Chaplin was also supporting this. And most of us are already Christians too. But all of us were pissed by this order to go to the bible study during duty hours at our place of duty.

We got together with one of the MRFF reps here at Fort (name withheld) who helped us review all of the stuff we needed on the MRFF website. Especially some of the videos showing the many other violations of the constitution at other installations. So many everywhere. She also gave us Mr. Weinstein’s contact info and we called him.

Mikey Weinstein told us how and what to say to our chain of command even before the first (unit name withheld) Commander's bible study. And it worked! In fact our (higher unit name withheld) Commander called our (unit name withheld) Commander into a meeting and ordered him to cease any further "morale-building" bible studies or any other bible studies during duty hours in our duty stations. He told the same thing to our (sub-unit supervisor's name and rank withheld) and totally jacked them both up for forcing us to attend. (Don't know if he also spoke to the Chaplin?) Many of us thought we'd get screwed for standing up and Mr. Weinstein said not to worry because the MRFF would handle it.

It has been (number withheld) days now and nothing bad yet has happened to any of us who asked for MRFF’s help to protest this mandatory duty hour bible study.

Without the help of the MRFF we would never have know what to do.

Thank you all at the MRFF for helping us to know what to do. Anymore of this happens and we will call you right away.

/s/

21 U.S. Army soldiers of the (military unit and various military sub-units withheld) at Fort (U.S. Army installation name withheld)

From: USAF Member's Name, Rank, AFSC, Unit, and Air Force Base All Withheld
Subject: Thank You MRFF
Date: September 20, 2018
To: Mikey Weinstein

Military Religious Freedom Foundation Staff

I am a member of the US Air Force.

I would like to thank you for supporting for me at the (military unit and various military sub-units withheld). Specifically, I want to thank Mikey Weinstein. I know he is an extremely busy man who leads a national organization, and was impressed and initially surprised that he spoke with me directly not merely to offer moral support, but to provide practical advice in handling a situation of religious preference in my unit.

My unit's chaplain has, for as long as I have been working at the unit full time, been emailing the entire wing invitations to an evangelical Christian luncheon weekly, never offering anything similar to troops of any other faith. Additionally, my unit's family services civilian aide has regularly sent out invitations to "family retreats" sponsored only by local evangelical Christian organizations. I have never, in (number of years withheld) at my unit, observed the unit to offer any comparable services for other faiths.

Recently, I hit a breaking point. I am a secular humanist, and was raised in a majority Mormon community. I have experienced first-hand the ostracism of being the odd man out. As I felt that same sense of "otherness" among my unit, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't just feeling left out, but that the unit was actually being discriminatory. After seeing the MRFF in the news, I reached out to them. I was blown away to get an almost immediate response from the head of the organization himself, Mikey Weinstein. He informed me of the Air Force Instruction that explained how Air Force leadership is not supposed to show favoritism toward any religion, and walked me through how to make a formal complaint without looking like I was just...complaining.

Without the MRFF. I wouldn't have been able to bring this issue to my commander in an educated, informed, and most importantly backed-by-the-regulation way. My commander is currently working the issue, and I know the MRFF has my back. I know that they'll be able to provide me with the regulatory understanding to rebuff any resistance my unit might have to becoming a more religiously equal workplace. Because of the MRFF, me and my fellow troops who haven't been willing to speak up will have the opportunity to have our voices heard and our rights protected.

Thank you Mikey, and everyone else at the MRFF!

-United States Air Force Member’s Name, Rank, AFSC, Unit, and Air Force Base All Withheld