by Colonel Bill Connor, US Army (Ret)
Guest Editorial
Among the multiple catastrophic failures of the Biden/Harris administration, starting with the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, the culture of wokeness forced upon the military is arguably the worst mistake. Upon taking office, the administration immediately ordered that transexual servicemembers be reinstated by removing the Trump administration ban. This quickly moved to mandate taxpayer funding for sexual transition, an operation Vice President Harris had supported for prisoners in California as Attorney General (AG). Within days of the Biden/Harris administration taking office, the military was given a “stand down” order to combat alleged extremism, wasting millions of hours of military training time. The alleged extremism was found to be false through a Department of Defense (DOD) investigation, and yet the damage was done in creating a damaging perception, stigmatizing conservative military members.
The diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement exploded in size and reach within DOD, and Critical Race Theory (CRT) was pushed on troops. This caused a stigma to conservative troops and divisiveness between “identity” groups. The administration forced thousands of mostly conservative troops out of the military for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Recruitment went through the worst crisis since the start of the all-volunteer force in 1973, as military families started dissuading their children from serving in a perceived woke military. This can only turn around by electing Donald Trump.
Around a year and a half ago, the National Independent Panel on Military Service and Readiness (NIPMSR), an eight-person panel led by Special Forces Officer and Congressman Mike Waltz (R-FL), published a shocking poll of active military and defense civilians. Highlights: 68 percent of active-duty members witnessed progressive politicization within the military during the Biden/Harris administration, with 65 percent being somewhat or very concerned about it. The poll found that trust in the military decreased by 80 percent due to the Biden/Harris decision to allow transgender service. The Biden/Harris focus on climate change caused a similar percentage to lose trust. Reducing physical fitness standards to “even the playing field” during Biden/Harris caused 70 percent to lose faith. Derrick Morgan, Washington DC think tank VP, claimed: “The timing for (NIPMSR) could not be more important given that fiscal year 2022 was the worst year for recruiting since the advent of the all-volunteer force, and 2023 is shaping up to be as bad or worse.”
Progressive politicization became a problem during the Obama/Biden administration. For example, in 2015, Obama’s Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, rejected a Marine Corps study proving gender-integrated combat formations did not perform as well as all-male units and that women were twice as likely as men to suffer combat injuries. However, the administration disregarded the finding and opened all combat arms positions to women. Biden/Harris surpassed Obama/Biden: After the Trump administration had halted transgender service, officials presented evidence that showed transgender individuals attempted suicide and experienced severe anxiety at nine times the rate of the general population. Biden not only reversed course from Trump but also granted transgender members time off from duty for sex-change surgery and coverage for all costs associated with the transition. Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr wrote about the effects of wokeness on physical fitness: “In recent years, fitness standards have been progressively watered down in pursuit of the woke goal of “leveling the playing field.” The Army, for instance, recently lowered its minimum passing standards for pushups to an unimpressive total of ten and increased its minimum two-mile run time from 19 to 23 minutes. The new Space Force is considering doing away with periodic fitness testing altogether.” The Joint Chiefs Chairman under Biden defended CRT at West Point, claiming he wanted to understand “White Rage.”
Halfway into the Biden/Harris administration, the perception of wokeness by servicemembers was critical: “[They are] sounding the alarm over what they call a culture putting ‘wokeness’ before training and combat effectiveness. Those service members … are blaming that culture for its recruiting challenges, which have risen to a level unseen since it was transitioned to an all-volunteer force. ‘The military is extremely woke … I perceive the Army leadership as woke.’ The service members … almost universally shared a similar sentiment, with many noting that senior members who speak out on the issue risk their careers or retirement pensions. ‘Merely questioning the goals or methods used to promote Equity & Diversity is punished and that punishment is swift, harsh and public,’ one service member said,” according to a report by Fox News. This situation has only become worse.
Kamala Harris has said she is “not Joe Biden,” yet when she asked on The View if she would do anything different from Biden, Harris said, “Not a thing that comes to mind.” Aleksandra Tirziu, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and founder of a geopolitical risk firm, wrote of Harris, “In nearly four years as vice president … the Biden-Harris administration has pursued a diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda seemingly intent on refashioning both society and state. The Defense Department, for example, last year directed $86.5 million in taxpayer money toward programs focused on critical race theory, “white supremacy” and gender.”
Our military’s warfighting culture stands at the precipice of irreversible weakness without a change to Trump, and we, as Americans, are ultimately responsible for what happens to our military. We must return the military from the destructive wokeness wrought by Biden/Harris. Let God guide us to what’s right as we make this decision.
Bill Connor is a 1990 Citadel graduate, 30-year Army infantry colonel (ret.) and combat veteran. He is a writer and attorney and lives in the Charleston area.
