[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XQXBAGQ7xY[/youtube]

http://freethoughtblogs.com/rockbeyondbelief

Agreed, on both - but it was still better than any of my personal re-enlistments.

Er, why is a chaplain doing the enlistment? Is that normal for US forces?

Any Commissioned Officer, usually at the request of the person being re-enlisted. SGT Griffith requested this Chaplain because they have had a good working relationship and helped solve many issues regarding AiFs together. He's using it as part of his bridge-building efforts to get proper respect and support for other atheists.

OK. All is clearer now.

A flag isn't required, but is usually provided to make the ceremony a bit more official-looking. All that is really required is the Commissioned Officer to give the oath (affirmation), and the appropriate paperwork for everyone to sign.

Nice, a good step forward. And good on the chaplain too.

Good, and I think it was important that it was done by a chaplain.

Justin is a class act! Congratulations to him.

I always made the effort to have the oath/affirmation memorized when I did re-enlistments, promotions, commissionings, etc. I always felt that it showed a bit of extra respect for the person making that next step.

My favorite one was where I got to re-enlist a bunch of troops at 24,000 feet in the back of a KC-135 as we were flying over southern Iraq. As a bonus, the troops that were elligible for a re-enlistment bonus got the whole thing tax free.