Dedicated in 1908, the academy chapel, with its familiar green dome, is a main gathering place of academy life. Services are offered by various denominations, and the chapel plays hosts to weddings, funerals and other events.
At the 11 a.m., Protestant service, a midshipman carrying the American flag and one carrying the brigade flag walk to the altar, dip the flags slightly forward and then post them at the front of the church.
After witnessing the practice, Fowler called together academy chaplains and others to review the practice, Austin said.
"There was a concern over teaching midshipmen something not practiced anywhere in the Fleet," Austin wrote in an e-mail.
The chaplains suspended the practice so the issue could be reviewed, Austin said.
`One nation under God'
But the move infuriated some congregants.
"We all were dismayed. We didn't quite understand why this was occurring," said Bob Morrison, who has attended chapel services for 12 years and holds a post with the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group.
"It's a beautiful and symbolic gesture," he added. "Basically what we're saying is, we are one nation under God."
Morrison said he and other members sent letters to the superintendent imploring him to allow the tradition.
Eugene Fidell, a Washington-based military law expert who sits on the board that advises the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said he was "astounded" to hear of the tradition.
`The flag above all'
"Dipping quite clearly implies subordination," Fidell said. "It's like a junior saluting a senior."
He said the U.S. flag code states that the flag should not be dipped for any person or object.
"The flag," he said, "stands above all in official settings."
At least one person has not attended the 11 a.m. service since the tradition has resumed: Fowler.
His spokesman declined to say why the superintendent has stopped attending the service, saying it is a personal matter.
josh.mitchell@baltsun.com
