Greetings to my army buddies!

As a retired Jewish Coast Guardsman (over 30 years). I am curious as to:

(a) How many Jewish Soldiers there are?
(b) How many Jewish Spouses?
(c) How many have experienced Anti-Semitism?
(d) How many have found access to kosher food (i.e. those items that cater to a kosher market, e.g. Rubashkins, International Glatt, Meal Mart, Empire, Ha’olam and Millers cheeses, etc.) (on-base or off-base) and religious services easy?
(e) How many wear kippahs and tzitzis in uniform except when prohibited by Army Regs.
(f) How many have heard explicitly derogatory expressions about Jews, e.g. ####, jew-down, jew-boy, etc.

I loved being in the military and I would serve my country again if I could. I know most people were curious and supportive of my Judaism, but there were a few that weren’t. 

Lately there have been a few high profile cases where Jews have been shunned or have been treated derogatorily.  Recently a jewish veteran was actively pursued to convert at a VA facility in Iowa City, there was a Jewish Chaplain at NIH who was canned for various reasons including hatred by a Catholic Chaplain there of Jews or at least the Jewish Chaplain involved.

v/r Moishe (Mark Lewack), SCPO, USCG ret.  in Frederick, MD

I think its great that such a website exists for these discussions. I am a recent vet and amongst younger generations of Jews (post draft)- I feel that there are few who understand and appreciate our unique experiences.

To answer some of your questions- I served on active duty from 1996 to 2000 and in the Army National Guard between 2001 - 2005 with a 2003 deployment to Iraq.

I am not orthodox nor am I fully kosher (I don’t eat pork or shellfish) or sabbath observant, so my Jewishness was less apparent, but I did attend services occasionally. My id tags listed me as Jewish and I think most of my soldiers, peers, and commanders knew I was Jewish and had no problem with it. The Christian chaplains in the battalions that I served in always pro-actively inquired if my religious needs were being met as well as made it clear that kosher rations were available if requested as well as religious services. Aside from the chaplains, if I was approached regarding my religion (and I rarely was as politics and religion still largely remain taboo in the military) it was usually respectful curiosity or by other service members who were Jewish. I was stationed on one of the larger Army bases and there was always a Jewish chaplain during the 4 years I was on active duty. When I was deployed to Iraq, I had the opportunity to attend a Seder which I declined due to mission requirements but always regretted.

While on active duty, there were a handful of Jewish soldiers (6-8 that I knew of, probably more) in my field artillery battalion of 725. I may have been the only one in my national guard military police Battalion HQ Detachment, but that is a small unit of 70 soldiers.

I can honestly say that I was never the victim of any anti-semitic remarks or actions both as an active duty soldier and a guardsman. These are my experiences, and I hope they are representative of the majority of current Jewish servicemen and woman and recent vets.

I am the only jewish soldier in a platoon of 208 training in Arizona.
I am a female.  Recently, I have experienced some anti-semitism since I arrived here.  A swatstika was painted in a male latrine.  A few jew jokes have been made.  But, my company has responded very well with EO training. They do not accept any racism at all.  I am very pleased with their response to racial jokes and comments.  I eat at the dfac which offers vegetarian meals.  Kosher MRE’s are available for field training.  I love being in the US military and am proud to serve my country.
MRIDEOUT

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