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Military | Proposed military guidelines could muzzle evangelical officers and chaplains | Les Sillars, Stefanie Hausner

Shortly after Kevin Radman arrived at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va., last summer, his sergeant instructor ensured that each member of the unit had access to a chapel service. "He did not ask how many people were religious, he asked what sort of religion you were," recalls Mr. Radman, now a second lieutenant. The sergeant needled the lone candidate who said he was an atheist. He'd better find God, he said, because "you need to find something to hold on to."

OCS is not exactly Bible camp. But for 2nd Lt. Radman, who expected and found a fair bit of "drinking, womanizing, and swearing," he also discovered "good people" at OCS. "They firmly believe in helping people," he said. "Integrity and honesty are huge. They're very aware of those virtues." He figures that the Marine Corps "wants you to have religion because they're asking you to kill people and so they want you to have moral principles," he says. "They recognize that people need an internal [compass], something to help them through this stuff."