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Service members warn of ‘extremely woke’ military: ‘It does nothing for the warfighter’

October 11, 2022 | | Print Article

Just as President Joe Biden has refused to acknowledge that his policies are even partly responsible for the ongoing economic woes crippling the American economy, military leaders have remained adamant that their “extremely woke” agenda is not to blame for the failure to achieve recruitment numbers.

Those who’ve served on the front lines see the problem for what it is but, with reprisals like that experienced by former U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller who was drummed out of service when he spoke out against the poor decision-making of command during the Afghanistan withdrawal, “merely questioning the goals or methods used to promote ‘Equity & Diversity’ is punished and that punishment is swift, harsh, and public.”

That testimony comes courtesy of several service members, some said to have served with Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, who spoke anonymously with Fox News Digital to express their view that, “The military is extremely woke.”

“I do perceive the Army leadership as woke, and probably the lower enlisted (they have been indoctrinated in school). Equity-diversity is another way to divide and control the masses. It does nothing for the warfighter,” one member said.

Another conveyed, “I 100% believe the military is woke. I see daily minorities, overweight people and women not adhering to military standards. Nobody corrects them due to the fear of being fired and labeled a racist or a sexist.”

Of course, U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth’s opinion on the matter differed wildly as she spoke Monday with military leaders for a discussion on national security and modernization. “We get criticized, frankly, sometimes for being ‘woke.’ I’m not sure what ‘woke’ means. I think ‘woke’ means a lot of different things to different people. But, first of all, if ‘woke’ means we are not focused on war fighting, we are not focused on readiness, that doesn’t reflect what I see at installations all around the country or overseas when I go and visit.”

“I do think we do have a wide range of soldiers in our Army,” she said, “and we’ve got to make them all feel included. And that’s why a lot of our diversity, equity and inclusion programs are important.”

Wormuth acknowledged that recruitment for the fiscal year had fallen well short of the mark attaining only 75 percent of the target goal. In a statement, she said, “In the Army’s most challenging recruiting year since the start of the all-volunteer force, we will only achieve 75% of our fiscal year ‘22 recruiting goal.”

Earlier in the year, the Department of Defense had attributed low recruitment numbers to a difficult labor market as their missed recruitment mark had come even after reducing their goal to its smallest active-duty size since before World War II.

Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo had said at the time, “Unlike every other employer in the economy, we’re facing, obviously, some challenging conditions in terms of our ability to recruit and attract talent. It’s no different all of us in the Department of Defense are all in a war for talent every single year…And so, we made the decision to just temporarily reduce end strength, as opposed to lowering our standards.”

But, with reports of over 6 million man-hours spent on extremism, climate change, and diversity, equity and inclusion training, the forces on the frontlines see matters quite differently.

“I prefer a military that was more concerned with the standards of the unit, rather than equity,” one member told Fox News Digital suggesting the rest is “disruptive towards the real training the military should focus on.”

“It seems like in the ‘90s, DOD was apolitical, but that doesn’t seem to be the case now. It seems like more and more leaders are more overtly supporting a political side, rather than their oath,” another said.

That idea was supported by another who affirmed, “The DOD is absolutely politicized. No matter what party is in power. Generals have basically become politicians, and ‘yes men’ and will conform to whatever party is in power.”

What’s worse, as members committed to service have been kicked out for their failure to comply with experimental vaccination programs for medical and religious reasons, and the overt politicization has continued, the idea of encouraging the next generation to volunteer has rapidly dwindled.

”I would not have my children join for the same reason they are in private schools vs. public schools,” one told Fox News Digital as another stated, “I couldn’t allow my kids to join the military, and risk having them serve under commanders like I saw on deployments.”

”They’d be better off serving for one of our allies who are focused on defending their country and will come to our aid when our woke and unready force embarrasses itself,” another said with one more asking, “Why would I have my kids join an institution who works every day to call them evil and diminish the contributions of their ancestors.”

Further proof of leadership disconnect could be seen in a recent tweet from Wormuth who shared a post from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and argued, “To recruit & retain the best talent, we must prioritize the quality of life for our Soldiers & families. @USArmy worked [with DOD] on new initiatives to improve affordability of housing & food, enhance spousal employment, & make moves easier. We are listening! More to come!”

Kevin Haggerty
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