4 Examples Of ‘Wokeness’ Infecting The United States Military

Last week, citing a perceived trend toward wokeness in the military, Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized Pentagon leadership for designing uniforms fitted to pregnant women. 

Carlson went on to contrast the growing military power of China with the American armed forces’ fascination with “new hairstyles and maternity flight suits.”

“Pregnant women are going to fight our wars,” Carlson said. “It’s a mockery of the U.S. military. The bottom line is, it’s out of control, and the Pentagon’s going along with this.”

In response, Department of Defense Press Sec. John Kirby — a Biden appointee — denounced Carlson for using his show to “denigrate the contributions of women in the military.” The Department of Defense posted Kirby’s remarks under the title, “Press Secretary Smites Fox Host That Dissed Diversity in U.S. Military.”

“We are better and more effective, not only when we represent the American people, all the American people, but also when we have the morals to include other perspectives and ideas,” Kirby added. “A major and specific contributor to that advantage are the women who serve, civilian and military alike.”

Though the Department of Defense recently walked back other snarky comments toward Carlson on social media, lawmakers — including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) — are deeply concerned about the military’s reprimand of a civilian expressing a political opinion. In a letter to Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, Sen. Cruz noted that the military’s obligations to “avoid political endorsements and controversy” are being undermined “for the sake of leftwing ideology and political expediency.”

The incident with Tucker Carlson is just the latest in a string of incidents which show their apparent leftward drift toward wokeness. Here are four more examples.

Free Gender Transition Surgeries

In a Defense Department memo, Sec. Austin appeared to indicate that the new policy would allow transgender members of the military to receive gender transition services, compliments of U.S. taxpayers. 

“Prospective recruits may serve in their self-identified gender when they have met the appropriate standards for accession into the military services,” wrote Sec. Austin. “This revised policy will also ensure all medically-necessary transition related care authorized by law is available to all Service members and will re-examine all cases of transgender Service members that may be in some form of adverse administrative proceedings.”

According to The Blaze, military health insurance provider TRICARE includes hormone replacement therapy and psychotherapy for gender dysphoria as “covered services.” Costs for gender transition surgeries can exceed $100,000 — a bill that American taxpayers may potentially cover for up to 15,000 service members, amounting to a $1.5 billion expense.

Transgender Ban Repealed

Within the first week of the Biden administration, Defense Department leadership endorsed the new Commander-in-Chief’s reversal of the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.

President Biden’s executive order states that the military thrives when it is “composed of diverse Americans who can meet the rigorous standards for military service, and an inclusive military strengthens our national security.”

The measure cited comments made in 2016 by former Defense Sec. Ash Carter, who affirmed that “transgender service members who could meet the required standards and procedures should be permitted to serve openly.”

At the signing on January 25, President Biden thanked Sec. Austin, as well as Gen. Mark Milley — chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — for being a “great, great help” on the order.

‘What I’m doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform, and essentially restoring the situation as it existed before, with transgender personnel, if qualified in every other way, can serve their government in the United States military,” remarked the President.

Critical Race Theory Book Recommendations

The United States Navy’s most recent suggested reading list includes books that explicitly endorse critical race theory and intersectionality. Among these books is How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.

The Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program endorses Kendi’s book — as well as other books related to gender politics and “anti-racism” — to sailors.

In a press release, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russell Smith stated that “the titles included were methodically chosen in order to provide a specific focus on targeted areas for reinforcement, a focus that will provide enlisted Sailors the greatest benefit given our role in the organization.”

Professor Kendi — who teaches at Boston University and leads its “Center for Antiracist Research” — rose to prominence following the death of George Floyd, and his book now holds a place among the “anti-racist” canon. 

Kendi’s conclusions about racial equity often raise eyebrows. For instance, he implied last year that Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is a white colonizer for adopting two black children from Haiti.

As with the military’s rebuke of Tucker Carlson, lawmakers were not happy with the Navy’s endorsement of How to Be an Antiracist.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) — a ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel and a Naval Reserve officer since 2012 — wrote to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday that “the views promoted in ‘How to Be an Antiracist’ are explicitly anti-American.”

Rep. Banks Banks asked Gilday to offer a written response explaining how the book “cultivates a culture of warfighting excellence” or “remove How to be an Antiracist from the CNO-PRP Reading List.”

Pledge About Intersectionality

Task Force One Navy — an entity formed in June of 2020 to address “discrimination and bias” — wrote a pledge for sailors that endorse the assumptions of intersectionality.

“I pledge to advocate for and acknowledge all lived experiences and intersectional identities of every sailor in the Navy,” it reads. “I pledge to engage in ongoing self-reflection, education and knowledge sharing to better myself and my communities. I pledge to be an example in establishing healthy, inclusive and team-oriented environments. I pledge to constructively share all experiences and information gained from activities above to inform the development of Navy-wide reforms.”

Members of Congress likewise condemned the Navy’s embrace of left-wing ideology.

“The Navy’s divisive ‘woke pledge’ to acknowledge intersectional identities threatens the fabric of our military, which has always united our servicemembers through the common theme of service to and love of our country,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) in a statement. “Radical Leftist orthodoxy has no place in the Navy or any other branch of our military.”

“All of our men and women in uniform, including our brave sailors in the U.S. Navy, deserve to have the best tools needed to carry out their mission to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” added Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). “Unfortunately, liberal intersectional ideology undermines this mission. Our Armed Forces are built upon unity and teamwork, but intersectional philosophy depends on dividing people into warring victim groups.”

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich wrote in an op-ed that the pledge would lead to a “brainwashed military spouting largely partisan ideological nonsense.”

“Members will be told their survival in the military and their chance for promotion is dependent on learning left-wing baloney,” he said.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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