A report from the panel that investigated alleged religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy should be released next week, said Capt. Jim Cunningham, Air Force spokesman at the Pentagon.
Critics of the religious climate at the service academy said they are optimistic the investigators’ work will substantiate their claims.
“I remain cautiously optimistic that the military professionals, and in particular Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, who have stewarded this task force, will come to the conclusion that there have been serious breaches of the constitutionally mandated wall separating church and state,” Mikey Weinstein, a 1977 academy graduate who has sent two sons to the school, said Wednesday.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said he is optimistic the report will be “a very clear recognition of the severity of this problem.”
The Air Force ordered the investigation of alleged religious intolerance of the academy after Lynn’s group delivered a report saying evangelical Christians were harassing cadets who do not share their faith.
It is one of at least four probes of religious proselytizing at the school.
Last week, officials disclosed that the Air Force is investigating improper-conduct allegations against Brig. Gen. John Weida, a born-again Christian who has been criticized for including religious comments in e-mails and other communications
The Department of Defense inspector general began an inquiry earlier this month to determine whether the reassignment of a chaplain was handled properly.
A private group that helps recruit and endorse military chaplains is also conducting an outside review of the school’s religious climate.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-New York, said he would introduce legislation creating a presidential commission to look into religious freedom in the military.
The Republican majority rejected an amendment Israel introduced in the Armed Services Committee last month requiring the Air Force secretary to develop a plan to ensure that coercive religious intimidation is halted at the academy. The House Appropriations Committee subsequently added an amendment to the defense appropriations bill with similar language.
