Stop the Wokification of the Pentagon

The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington on March 3, 2022. Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Commentary

President Joe Biden has selected Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., to become the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCOS) at the end of September. He will succeed Army General Mark A. Milley who will wrap up his four-year term at the Pentagon. Gen. Brown, who is now serving as the Air Force Chief of Staff, will undergo the formality of confirmation by the Senate in the coming weeks.

Gen. Brown has built a stellar resume by leading every type of command in the Air Force in a career spanning nearly 40 years. He has applied innovative ideas in the Air Force and ascended the chain of command through competence, experience, and merit. According to the Associated Press, Gen. Brown has unique insights on the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which is the pacing threat of the 21st century.

Since Gen. Brown is eminently qualified to take the reins as JCOS Chairman, it was puzzling to hear him state that he would hire based on diversity. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a shock due to the application of woke influences at the Pentagon over the past several years. Apparently, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), critical race theory, and LGBT politics have found their way into the Pentagon’s inner sanctum, as well as in the three service academies that graduate commissioned officers.

Why is the wokification of the armed forces an accident waiting to happen? Hiring people into the military based on color, gender, and race will serve to humiliate the recipients of identitarian special treatment. They will sense that their success is due to handouts rather than competition on a fair playing field. It is also a kick in the stomach to personnel who play by the rules of experience, merit, and qualifications. Wokeness can also adversely impact West Coast bases.

If military standards are watered down due to “diversity” quotas, personnel will suffer consequences in the form of resentment, discrimination, accidents, and possible deaths. Dystopian woke propaganda rejects objective truth in favor of moral relativism and is chock full of internal contradictions, so it’s a waste of money and time.

President Joe Biden shakes hands with Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. as he announces his intent to nominate him to serve as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during an event in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 25, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Restoring Military Traditions

Army Lt. General Thomas Spoehr (Ret.) of the Heritage Foundation, among others, have warned about the moral hazard of implementing wokeness into the armed forces. It can tend to distract the enlisted and officers who already have plenty on their plates regarding core duties. These duties include rigorous fitness, planning, teamwork, and training missions to enhance national security and prepare for future high-end fights in contested environments.

The Associated Press has reported that in recent years, military recruitment shortfalls have hampered all of the services except for the Marine Corps and small Space Force. Are these shortfalls partially due to woke indoctrination in the services? Unlike the Air Force, Army, and Navy, the Marines don’t entice recruits by offering sign-up bonuses or accept anyone who doesn’t meet the intellectual and physical standards. Recruits must pass the Armed Services Voluntary Aptitude Battery, physical tests, and possess good moral character to effectively serve.

The Dept. of Defense must not surrender to what George W. Bush referred to as the “soft bigotry of low expectations” for its civilian and military personnel. The armed forces shouldn’t use service members as lab experiments for every trend that comes down the pike. Each individual is duty bound to pull his or her own weight and get up to speed rapidly, because lives could be at stake.

Discharged service members who opposed the vaccine mandates ought to be restored to their former positions if they request it, despite the shabby treatment they received. Moreover, equal opportunity, not equity, ought to be the driving force for advancing in Military Occupational Specialties (MOS).

Instead of the DEI fixation on identity politics, the military should focus like a laser on communications, confidence, discipline, excellence, leadership, personal responsibility, and unity of purpose. Service branches must develop warriors, not coddle narcissists. A perceptive person once observed, “People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” This was likely alluding to the allied armed forces in the last century.

Since the armed forces have been all voluntary since 1973, no one should consider themselves to be victims of their free will decisions. The military isn’t a safe space wherein folks can display an attitude of unearned entitlement or put forth minimal effort. It is an atmosphere that will instill and test an individual’s focus, self-governance, and situational awareness to the max, because members handle complex hardware, machinery, and technology.

The Pentagon needs to eliminate Marxist woke politics from the armed services in order to meet readiness standards against destabilizing adversaries such as crime cartels, terror groups, Iran, North Korea, the PRC, and Russia. We can be sure that our peer competitors aren’t distracted by transgender and woke ideologies as they ramp up for unrestricted warfare.

Our West Coast bases must be the tip of the spear vis-à-vis conflicts emanating from the Indo-Pacific. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” This is similar to Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” vision of civil diplomacy backed up by a robust military force.

It is imperative that military veterans such as Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin and Gen. Brown, who took the oath to defend America, restore military principles similar to what President John F. Kennedy noted in his 1961 Inaugural Address. He stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” The virtues of commitment, courage, honor, and selfless service must remain front and center in military doctrine as we navigate the challenges of an unpredictable 21st century.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.