America is about to lose one of its most effective combat leaders.

Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Christopher Downey is an American hero who has devoted 24 years of his life to serving our country and the Army he loves.

But as you’ll see, he’s the latest victim of a social agenda being imposed on the military by the White House.

He flew over 1,000 combat hours supporting our ground troops during three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army awarded him 3 bronze stars and 7 air medals, including one for his heroic actions on May 25, 2011 when, as a helicopter pilot and air commander, he saved the lives of many soldiers on the ground by initiating multiple attacks against the enemy in complete disregard for his own safety.

Brigadier General Kelly Thomas rated Lt Col Downey as “our Army’s best Aviation Squadron Commander, bar none.” The General went on to say,

“LTC Downey is the fearless, caring, and a charismatic leader that we want leading our Soldiers under our command in both combat and garrison. His professionalism, loyalty and determination to do the right thing have never failed the Army.”

Yet, the Army he so loyally and capably served threw him under the bus just to appease the White House and silence homosexual advocacy groups.

As you read on, you’ll understand why the Army turned its back on Lt Col Downey. And why we must continue the legal battle on his behalf.

Overview of the Case

Brigadier General Mark Milley found Lt Col Downey guilty of violating the recent repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT). This finding was based on Lt Col Downey’s request to two lesbian officers that they stop engaging in excessive displays of public affection while in uniform at a formal military event. As you may know, that repeal of DADT now allows open homosexuals to serve in the military. Lt Col Downey was also wrongly found guilty of assault consummated by a battery after lowering the camera of an enlisted soldier that was directed at the French-kissing female officers.

As a result, this exceptional combat leader was relieved of his command, removed from the attendance list at the National War College, effectively barred from further promotions, and placed in danger of being separated from the Army.

His conviction was not the result of a judicial trial. It was the result of an administrative hearing (commonly referred to as an Article 15 hearing) presided over by General Milley, who acted as the prosecutor, judge, and jury. General Milley considered himself above the Constitution or any standard of fairness. He controlled the appearance of witnesses and their questioning. He had two lawyers advising him. Lt Col Downey had none. His military lawyer had bailed-out on him.

It was a 5 hour farcical show trial. General Milley knowingly humiliated this American hero by forcing him to spend 30 minutes viewing a 3-ringed binder filled with photographs of men and women dancing and indicating to the General whether the behavior captured was inappropriate or not.

After his conviction and initial appeals, Lt Col Downey asked the Thomas More Law Center to represent him. We agreed.

We are now pursuing every possible legal avenue to overturn Lt Col Downey’s wrongful conviction and punishment. That’s why we’re in this legal battle. And that’s why I’m asking for your financial support.

At last! We’re finally in federal court to reverse Lt Col Downey’s career-ending conviction and punishment.

But I want you to know this is only the beginning of the process. If we’re successful at this stage, the court will order the case back to an Army administrative board to re-examine the evidence and explain in writing why it denied Lt Col Downey’s constitutional arguments. If we are unsuccessful, we will appeal the case to the federal appellate court. The Army has the same options.

Here are the Facts

On April 14, 2012, a formal military ball was held to celebrate the accomplishments of Lt Col Downey’s unit during their recent deployment. At one point in the evening, Lt Col Downey observed two of his female officers in full dress uniform, a Captain and a Lieutenant, in the middle of the dance floor engaged in prolonged French-kissing, groping each other, and removing each others’ jackets. Several enlisted personnel were taking videos and photographs of the officers’ lurid sexual conduct.

Lt Col Downey quickly moved to the dance floor and directed the lesbian officers to stop their inappropriate conduct. As he was making his way to the dance floor, he lowered the camera of one of the soldiers in his path. Unfortunately, the Soldier, who admitted having 5 or 6 drinks, lost his balance. This incident led to Lt Col Downey being charged with assault consummated by a battery. It was nothing but an unfortunate accident.

The Investigating Officer, appointed by General Milley himself, found that Lt Col Downey did not intend to injure the Soldier, and that his actions were motivated mainly by his desire to protect the privacy of the lesbian officers and his unit’s reputation.

This is important. The Soldier himself stated that he did not believe Lt Col Downey intended to assault him; that his actions were done with the intent to prevent him from taking further photos of the two lesbian officers.

The Soldier’s statement did not fit General Milley’s political narrative so he was never called to testify at the Hearing; nor did the General call the two lesbian officers to testify.

Why did Lt Col Downey tell the two lesbians officers to stop their lurid behavior?

It was his duty.

The long-standing custom of the Army and the uniform code of military justice prohibit inappropriate public displays of affection (PDA) by military personnel in uniform.

The Defense Department issued written guidance clearly stating that regardless of the repeal of DADT, the existing standards of conduct relating to public displays of affection would continue to apply to all service members regardless of their sexual orientation.

Also, shortly after the repeal, the military issued a written directive that commanders were still expected to enforce the code against PDA regardless of the sexual orientation of the offenders. And that’s what Lt Col Downey was doing when he told the lesbian officers to stop their inappropriate behavior.

General Milley’s own Investigating Officer found that the command climate in Lt Col Downey’s unit regarding the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was a positive one. Clearly, Lt Col Downey had never discriminated against any of his soldiers because of their sexual orientation.

The Lesbian Captain Threatens the Army

Within hours of being confronted by Lt Col Downey on the dance floor, the lesbian Captain posted false allegations on her Facebook page and a lesbian advocacy website claiming that she was the victim of sexual discrimination in the Army. She threatened to take legal action and to publicly embarrass the Army in the media. Others on the website exhorted her to go national with her story. As a result:

She gave an interview to a Huffington Post reporter claiming she was the victim of the first instance of discrimination against gays in the military since the repeal of DADT. She ended the interview by stating that a message should be sent throughout the country that this behavior will not be tolerated in the military.

In a televised interview, she revealed for the first time that she had been contacted by the Army and assured that if she stopped speaking to the media about the incident, the Army would take care of her complaints.

A homosexual advocacy group directly contacted the Pentagon on her behalf.

But there’s more to this story.

Just weeks before the incident, the Pentagon had begun a campaign to assure the public that the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell had been successfully implemented. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff released a statement that he had not seen “any negative effect on good order and discipline” resulting from the repeal.

General Milley’s farcical hearing is directly attributable to his intent to silence the lesbian Captain and make sure that the Pentagon’s public relations initiative regarding DADT was not derailed. To silence her, they had to punish Lt Col Downey.

An Outstanding Officer

Lt Col Downey led his unit to achieve two national awards in a single year, a feat accomplished only once before; one for being the top combat unit of the year, and the other for flying in excess of 30,000 accident free hours in some of the most inhospitable flying terrain in the world to sustain the mission and protect the local populace.

He was selected ahead of officers from all three of the other major services to become the Presidential Airlift Coordinator for the White House in Washington, D.C. from 2008 to 2010. As the Presidential Airlift Coordinator, his superior described him as “clearly in the top 1% of the handpicked officers of the White House Military Office Operations Directorate and in all of the Lieutenant Colonels I have known in my 20 years of military service.”

As the Aviation Task Force Squadron Commander in Jalalabad, Afghanistan from 2010 to 2012, his military boss stated that he “deservedly is trusted with the most kinetic and dangerous portions of our battle space, and his leadership is the crucial factor in aggressively accomplishing the mission . . .”

There’s more . . . .

“Chris is a tough and caring leader who always leads from the front. He represents the future of the US Army and will no doubt command a combat aviation brigade with distinction. His reputation is outstanding and his leadership is respected by all with whom he has served.”

General David Rodriguez

“In LTC Downey, I observed a quality leader and officer whose integrity was beyond reproach.”

Major General James L. Terry

“He always led by example, driven by and personifying the values which the Army expects of its senior leaders. I testify to the tremendous combat leadership ability and proven potential of this exceptional officer.”

Major General Daniel B. Allyn

“His motivations have always been in the best interests of his soldiers and the organization and to the accomplishment of the mission.”

Lieutenant General James O. Barclay

And the list goes on . . . .

Since 2012, the Thomas More Law Center has been defending Lt Col Downey at no charge. We have expended tens of thousands of dollars worth of attorneys’ time to his cause. We’ve been able to do this because of the generous support of patriotic donors like you.

Political correctness and a social agenda promoted by the White House are on the verge of eliminating one of America’s most effective combat officers. We have one chance left to correct this injustice — the federal courts. But I need your financial help.

Lt Col Downey has devoted his life to the defense of our country. That’s why he deserves the support of every patriotic American.

Now is the time to show him your gratitude.

Please stand with him.

Editor’s note: You can donate to the Thomas More Center and support the defense of LTC Christopher Downey by clicking HERE. Your donation is tax deductible.

Eight weeks of U.S. military exercises this summer in several southwestern states – dubbed Jade Helm 15 – have some wondering if the government is preparing for martial law. Most voters don’t oppose such exercises, but a surprising number worry about what the federal government is up to.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 65% of Likely U.S. Voters favor the U.S. military conducting training exercises in their state. Just 16% are opposed, but slightly more (19%) are undecided.

Only 21% believe the government’s decision to conduct military training exercises in some states is an infringement on the rights of the citizens in those states. Sixty-two percent (62%) disagree. Sixteen percent (16%) are not sure.

But 45% of voters are concerned that the government will use U.S. military training operations to impose greater control over some states, with 19% who are Very Concerned. Just over half (52%) are not concerned that the government has an ulterior motive for the training exercises, including 26% who are Not At All Concerned.

Among voters who oppose military exercises in their state, 82% are concerned that the federal government has greater control in mind. Just 34% of those who favor the exercises share that concern. (Read more from “Voters Worry Military Exercises May Lead to Federal Control of States” HERE)

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America has a Judeo/Christian ethos: 90% of Americans believe in God and 50% of them go to church or synagogue every week. But Christian members of the U.S. military are wondering long and hard about joining and/or making the U.S. Armed Forces a career. This concern by Christians about the U.S. Armed Forces and its oppression of Christians appears to be a casualty of Obama’s Social Experiment On Diversity and its apparent goal to minimize Christian influence in the U.S. military. This Social Experiment On Diversity has been changing the make-up of the US Armed Forces and is seriously eroding unit cohesiveness, unit morale, and the “Combat Effectiveness” of the U.S. military.

Chaplains are having their sermons and even the places where they are allowed to pray controlled and censored to be sure their statements are “Politically Correct” and in keeping with the what the Obama civilian appointees in DOD want them to say. Chaplains have been prevented from reading letters from their Cardinals in the pulpit to their parishioners. Chaplains have been prevented from giving bibles to patients in their hospital rooms. Catholic Chaplains who don’t believe in the use of birth control pills and abortion are prevented from preaching their religious beliefs in the pulpit. Army Ranger Chaplain Joseph Lawton was punished and served with a “Letter of Concern” for referring to solace and comfort he receives in his darkest moments by reading the Psalms of King David in the Old Testament of the bible, while he was conducting a suicide prevention seminar for Combat Veterans suffering from PTSD.

The Defense in Marriage Act, a Federal Law, has been violated and disobeyed by Obama and Holder without repealing it. Chaplains who support that Federal Law because of their religious beliefs have been discriminated against. Obama’s civilian DOD appointees have been intolerant toward Chaplains who do not believe in same-sex marriage, supposedly in the defense of tolerance, to make them comply, which is not only hypocritical, but is bigoted. So if a Chaplain’s well held religious beliefs don’t allow him to support same sex marriage, he is threatened with career ending punishment which would result in his failure to be promoted, and/or would result in his removal from the U.S. Armed Forces. That treatment of Chaplains and Christians who agree with their Chaplains beliefs have been discriminated against and oppressive by the civilian appointees of the Obama administration at DOD.

Military personnel are prevented from having bibles at their desks in their work place, and military base commanders have been instructed not to allow bibles to be placed in base hotel rooms.

Open homosexuality in the U.S. Armed Forces has been approved by Obama’s Executive Orders, in a major “CHANGE” to General George Washington’s 238 year old U.S. Military Regulations. Last year because of the “CHANGE” of General George Washington’s Military Regulations, the U.S. Armed Forces authorized the recruiting of a large influx of gay males and women to join the U.S. military for the first time in U.S. history. Last year 10,400 straight members of the US Armed Forces were sexually assaulted in their barracks and aboard their ships. The Navy has had straight female enlisted women sexually assaulted in their barracks and aboard their ships by lesbian crew members; and nearly 9, 000 female members of the US Armed Forces were sexually assaulted last year.

Gay Rights Political Events and gatherings are now being held on U.S. Military bases and in the Pentagon in violation of U.S. Military Regulations which prohibit political events of any kind. U.S. Military Color guards and military personnel in uniform are now being ordered to march in Gay Rights Parades (a political event) in violation of U.S. Military Regulations, while at the same time, members of the U.S. Armed Forces have been prevented from attending Christian events in their uniforms.

[Listen to a recent interview with this article’s author here]

In 2014, at the Iron Mountain VA Hospital in Wisconsin, Chaplain Bob Mueller, relayed an unsettling experience he experienced in a conversation he had with one of Obama’s civilian appointee in the Veterans Administration, when he said “a couple of months ago, an order came down from Washington, D.C. to all Chaplains in VA Hospitals across the nation, ordering them to cover all icons associated with Christianity in VA Hospitals, like photos of Christ, crosses, and stained glass windows, because there are Christian symbols in stained glass.” Chaplain Mueller was told to “stop talking about Jesus, and to stop reading the scripture out loud.” He said that the Obama administration has issued the same orders “to cover all things associated with Christianity” to all VA Chapels across the country.”

The Flag and General Officer, who have always practiced and supported Judeo/Christian ethics, who opposed the hollowing out of the U.S. Armed Forces, and policies that degraded the “Combat Effectiveness” of the U.S. military by the occupant in the Oval Office, have been systematically eliminated over the last 6 years. A total of 195 Flag, General, and Senior Military Officers, who disagreed with Obama’s “Politically Correct” destructive military policies, and his executive Order that changed the U.S. Military into first major military force in the world that openly gay, a new and destructive policy that has negatively affected unit cohesiveness, the morale, and the “Combat Effectiveness” of the U.S. Armed Forces, have been purged by General Dempsey—those that remain have been conditioned not to defend Christianity. Those 195 purged Senior Officers would have opposed the on-going attack on Christians in the U.S. Armed Forces, but they are no longer there to defend the Chaplains and the enlisted Christian personnel. Senior enlisted military personnel who also practiced and supported Judeo/Christian ethics, and disagreed with an openly gay military, tried to utilized their right to complain thru the chain of command, and to express their concerns about the “Social Experiment on Diversity”, have also been purged, and in some cases have been court martialed and dishonorably discharged.

Although the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution guarantees Freedom of Religion, Christian members of the U.S. Armed Forces have had their religious rights systematically violated and oppressed, as previously discussed above and in the below listed article. The suppression of Christianity in the U.S. Armed Forces is triggering an exodus from the U.S. military of many Christians who wanted to make the U.S. military a career when they joined. After their first tour of duty, while witnessing how Chaplains and their Christian religious beliefs were oppressed, they have turned against making the U.S. Armed Forces a career. The elimination of thousands of Christian personnel from the U.S. Armed Forces with their well held religious beliefs and ethics in the ranks, and having them replaced will personnel with a different set of beliefs in keeping with Obama’s beliefs, will change the nature of the U.S. Armed Forces.

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Capt. Joseph John, USN/FBI (Ret) USNA ’62, San Diego, CA is the Chairman & Director of Combat Veterans for Congress. The motivation for establishing the Combat Veteran For Congress PAC in August 2009 was to rein in the out of control of spending by an irresponsible Congress, to save the 234 year old Free Enterprise System, and to stop the aggressive drive by the Obama Administration to change the United States’ Free Enterprise System into a Socialist State (Socialism and the redistribution of wealth has failed where ever it has been tried). The goal is to defend the Republic’s “Democratic Form of Government”; we seek to recruit, do the background investigation on, and endorse fiscally conservative Combat Veterans For Congress who have previously repeatedly put their lives on the line to protect and defend the US Constitution.

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By Poststar.com. Nearly 600 Army and Air National Guard forces from New Jersey and New York are preparing for the worst.

They are participating in a homeland response force drill at New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Friday. (Read more from “Nearly 600 Troops Participate in Homeland Response Drill” HERE)

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Big Spring Invites Army to Conduct Special Ops Training in City

By Julia Deng. A large-scale military exercise set to run from July 15 to November 15 has sparked rampant conspiracy theories involving everything from Walmart to martial law.

The Special Operations mission, called Jade Helm 15, is just another training opportunity to “practice core special warfare tasks,” according to United States Army representatives.

“The size and scope of Jade Helm sets this one apart,” said Army Special Operations Command officials. “To stay ahead of environment challenges faced overseas, Jade Helm will take place across seven states… The diverse terrain in these states replicates areas Special Operations Soldiers regularly find themselves operating in overseas.”

Special Operations Forces will only train in five states: Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

According to Jade Helm operations planners, training will only be conducted on private and public land with the permission of landowners or regional authorities. (Read more from this story HERE)

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