How Woke is the Military?

 

I did a quick google search for “military effect on manhood”. The top sites on the first page were all about the negative effects, not exactly what I had in mind. Google’s usefulness is often what it leaves out. Searches should tell us where the culture is on a particular issue, increasingly though it tells us where we should go.

I wanted traditional views about military service and manliness, or how the rigors of Army life encourage maturity in men. No such luck. I just went for manliness instead, seeing as how all the military and manliness articles are mostly negative. Not much better, most are about how manliness is toxic or how masculinity is a construct to be examined like a dead frog in a biology lab. I wanted to contrast the traditional with the modern and show a dramatic difference. But since I can’t do that I’ll just post the views of the new commander at Fort Carson and let you decide which one he fits into.

Here is how he describes himself on his Twitter bio: “Combined Arms Battalion Commander. Infantryman who loves tanks. Fervent anti-racist and anti-sexist. Views my own. He/him. Trying my best.”

This page screams woke. He even put his pronouns in there! This is the new Commander of the freaking base, not a colorless HR spokesman. Naturally I saw the need to contrast this weak man with a traditional leader without going back to George Washington. Even General Mattis (as Def. Sec) for all his tough guy talk recommended keeping transgender soldiers in service and recruiting more. Eventually he supported president Trump recommendation to eliminate almost all transgender soldiers from service. That he couldn't see for himself how destabilizing mental illness can be to morale is beyond me.

So this new LTC (Lieutenant Colonel) Andrew Rhodes of the base at Fort Carson reportedly said “If you’re a white male you’re part of the problem”. I hit the ceiling. This isn’t a dopey professor at a small liberal arts college in New England; this is a leader in the Army. Thankfully there is an investigation.

Has the military really gone that far into the abyss and been transformed into this? Is it the schools than? Do West Point and Annapolis and Colorado Springs attract these woke students? I can’t believe that the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen is this far from its history as defender of freedom. Soldiers are patriots or they wouldn’t bother. Ok so not every kid that joins is a flag waving Republican from the heartland. But he isn’t a Marxist revolutionary either. The language of “intersectionality” and “Critical Race Theory” and “Gendering” is now part of military esprit de corps. God help us.

A few weeks ago a Lt. Col was removed from his post as Commander of the 11^th Space Warning Squadron. Apparently his interview about his new book was seen as too partisan. He wrote about creeping Marxism in the military, ironically enough.

In March the Biden administration introduced a ‘diversity and inclusion’ czar to deal with the elite forces like Delta and Rangers. Just what those toxic males need, some non-gendering language questionnaires to sort out their aggressive behavior.  I prefer the marketing of my youth. Whether the Marines and their ‘Few and Proud’ ads or the Army with their “Be all You can Be” campaign, there was an unmistakable challenge to excellence. 

Contained in each ad was the offer to be a part of the best and become the best. It said this heritage of service goes back to our founding, it’s sacred and requires duty from citizens. It defeated Communism during the Cold War and National Socialism during World War II. It saved the new Republic from an invading British fleet in the War of 1812. It preserved the Union and made sure slavery ended with the Confederacy. We didn’t do it alone but we are the indispensable country to individual freedom around the world. The global order depends on it.

Critics will say my complaints are overwrought nonsense and the essential character of the armed forces is the same. But can we afford to be so blasé about such a critical institution to peace and security? Not a chance. Who would you rather go to war against, a nation full of hardened soldiers or one that talks about inclusion and race? Who looks to be the more challenging foe, one that touts its training and toughness or one that obsesses about pronouns and gender?

I’m not saying our military is shot through top to bottom with snowflakes, just the opposite actually. There is an attempt by left wingers running the country to gut the armed forces of its patriotic men and women in positions of leadership. This should be obvious by now and it has to stop. I don’t know where to go from here but without the nation’s defenders we’re like a fortress surrounded by cardboard walls. It looks imposing but with a little push it collapses on top of itself like a false religion. 

Next time I do a search for masculinity and the military I’m afraid Google will bring up pages on ancient history.

image taken from: https://laptrinhx.com/news/the-military-industrial-complex-is-going-woke-W72AlQQ/