Military pilot on no-fly list after probe into faith conversations ends without charges, lawyer says

A Catholic Air Force pilot remains on the military branch's no-fly list, despite an official probe having failed to substantiate allegations he talked about his faith in an inappropriate way with fellow airmen, his lawyer says.

The pilot, Capt. Forrest Doss, of the 6th Airlift Squadron, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, has served in the Air Force since 2018 and is now an instructor pilot and aircraft commander.

Despite no violations having apparently been found, Doss received an official letter admonishing him for comments that created a "hostile work environment" that also directs him to get counseling to avoid future problems.

According to the Air Force's June 17 Letter of Counseling, Doss, in late June 2024 and early January 2025, at various locations around the world, “made inappropriate and unprofessional comments towards members of the 6th Airlift Squadron during the critical phases of aircraft operation.”

"It is your responsibility to act in a professional manner and create a safe environment to successfully execute the mission," the letter states. "This includes refraining from discussing potentially charged topics.

“Intentionally or not, your conduct created a hostile work environment for members of your crew. Moving forward, I expect you to deliberately consider your comments and refrain from discussion that could be uncomfortable for your teammates. Your conduct is unacceptable and further deviation may result in more severe action.”

The letter doesn’t state what Doss said that was found to be “inappropriate and unprofessional.”

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and the DOD didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

“The LOC turns it into an equivalent of a [Uniform Code of Military Justice] violation for answering questions truthfully about what his church teaches,” R. Davis Younts, Doss’ lawyer, told Just the News.

Younts's June 24 response to the letter, in part, argues its "vagueness not only undermines its legitimacy but also suggests an attempt to penalize Captain Doss without evidence, particularly given the [initial Commander Directed Investigation] findings.

He also suggested one complainant is "noted for strong opinions and boundary-pushing behavior, [which] further indicates that the investigation process may have been weaponized to target Captain Doss due to his faith."

Younts also said the service member who filed the complaint is now under Doss's supervision, despite the investigation recommending that the "Airlift Squadron limit interaction" between his client and the complainant.

Younts said that after he sent his response regarding the LOC, Doss’ commander withdrew the LOC and instead gave Doss a record of individual counseling.

The record of individual counseling is less significant than the LOC, Younts said, because it doesn’t “go anywhere, officially,” but it contains the same language as the LOC. 

While the record “doesn’t end Doss’ career, people are aware of it,” and it damages his reputation as he was pulled off flying,” Younts said. Also, others “know the general allegations without context,” he also said.

Doss’ commander “put him on a no-fly list without explaining when he’ll fly again, what that looks like, or the ability to respond to it,” Younts said.

If Doss is not able “to fly,” his career is destroyed “because of an investigation,” he’s given “no good guidance moving forward, and he can’t talk about his faith when asked," Younts added.

According to the Commander Directed Investigation of Doss’ comments, which was completed in March, there were two allegations made against him.

The first allegation was that Doss communicated “the following contemptuous words against the President, to wit: ‘…President Biden was meeting with the Pope to falsely portray himself as a religious leader, that President Biden was dishonest, manipulative, and lacking any religious morals, President Biden was a fake Christian, and that he was a feeble old man who shouldn't be president…’ or words to that effect,” per the CDI report.

The second allegation was that Doss said “inappropriate and unprofessional comments regarding religion, women, or sexual orientation towards other crew members, and that said conduct was unbecoming of an officer."

The report found that the first allegation was unsubstantiated since “a preponderance of the evidence does not support that the words or statements associated with Captain Doss are contemptuous of the president. None of the corroborated statements met the stipulations of Article 88, the applicable excerpt from Manual for Courts Martial, or the definition of ‘contemptuous words.’”

The second allegation was also unsubstantiated, according to the report, because the investigating officer “determined that Captain Doss has sincerely held beliefs that are protected.”

“Doss's weakness in recognizing social cues paired with strong passion for his faith led to breakdowns in [Crew Resource Management] in all instances,” the report reads. 

“However, this shortcoming neither seriously compromised Captain Doss's standing as an officer, disgraced him, nor brought dishonor to the military profession, therefore does not apply to Article 133, UCMJ. His conversations were deemed by the ranking crew members of two crews to be a threat to CRM, but not safety of flight.”

The report also noted that no one had pulled Doss aside during the missions in which these comments were allegedly made “to give verbal counseling or show concern regarding the nature and tone of his conversations and their potential impact to the social dynamic of the crew, despite guidance from the Squadron Operations Officer.”

The investigating officer who wrote the report recommended that Doss “receives verbal counseling on appropriate conversation and engages in personal study on interpersonal and nonverbal communication” and “engages in self-study on how to express his personal religious views to a secular audience and to avoid specific, highly contextual terms that can be easily misconstrued to a secular or non-Catholic audience.”

The report’s recommendations also included that the “Airlift Squadron limit interaction between” Doss and the sergeant who filed the complaint, and “Airlift Squadron Aircraft Commanders and instructors of all specialties receive deliberate and continuing education on conflict resolution and Crew Resource Management (CRM) in addition to the minimum prescribed by the Air Force.”

The LOC and the record of individual counseling come after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo in April titled the "Restoring Good Order and Discipline Through Balanced Accountability," or as the secretary called it, the “No More Walking On Eggshells” policy.

The memo orders the military branches to review “their Military Equal Opportunity and DOD civilian Equal Employment Opportunity programs to ensure prompt and impartial investigations, fair treatment to all parties involved, and timely and appropriate resolution of allegations of discrimination,” according to the Pentagon.

The purpose of the programs is to give people “a full and fair opportunity for employment, career advancement and access to programs” without discrimination or harassment, which is “a good thing,” Hegseth said when signing the memo.

"But what's not good is when these programs are weaponized. Some individuals use these programs in bad faith to retaliate against superiors or peers," the secretary continued.

Hegseth said that unverified complaints are often made through either the equal opportunity side or the inspector general, which can end careers.

"Your career is impacted. You can't get promoted. You can't take command. You can't move to a new duty station until you're cleared of the complaint," Hegseth said.

Younts also said that he has spoken with an Air Force non-commissioned officer at another installation who is in a similar situation to Doss.

The NCO’s career was “wrecked” because of their faith, after a person asked them in a private conversation about their political beliefs on human sexuality and gender, he said. The NCO said that they believe in traditional marriage and two genders, which upset the person who asked the question, who then reported it, which led to an investigation.

“The low-level administrative process can damage a career, but it’s hard to fight against,” Younts said.

Younts also said that Doss will go through the Equal Opportunity process and see how it plays out.