In times past, a historical refrain echoed across America: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” And nowhere was that directive more fittingly employed than in the Armed Forces.

In the past few years, however, the quote’s relevance appears to have waned.

Since the advent of our national defense, pride and sacrifice have ruled the day. The idea was pretty straight forward: When you sign up to serve, you give up your individuality. You become an instrument to be used by the government in whatever ways it sees fit. You surrender yourself to a system which views you as a number — no different than the person next to you — and demands your complete conformity. By participating in such a program, many young Americans have discovered the virtue of discipline, the reward of diligence, and the resultant self-respect of earned merit.

But these days, it seems, everyone should do the opposite of that suggested by John F. Kennedy during his 1961 inaugural address. Our new dictate: Demand what your country must do for you.

Apropos of the radical reversal, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth recently laid out a Defense Department priority. During the Association of the Army’s annual conference, she asserted the branch isn’t woke — it’s just focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The Army is here to care for those who’ve been harmed. It now sees each unique individual — including his or her color, sexual sensibilities, and self-perception — and it’s devoted to being inclusive:

“In terms of, you know, soldiers coming from, um, marginalized communities or, you know, demographics that are not widely represented in the Army, that’s part of why we’ve got to emphasize positive command climates and inclusion.”

What is woke, anyway?

“You know, 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.”

If “woke” means the branch is inattentive to “war-fighting” or “readiness,” she said, that “doesn’t reflect what [she sees] at installations all around the country or overseas when [she visits them].”

So the Army isn’t so woke. It’s just nice:

“But I think, you know, we do have a wide range of soldiers in our Army, 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.”

.@SecArmy Christine Wormuth gets heated while explaining the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs for soldiers. https://t.co/v9aOk4LFqc pic.twitter.com/eo3Ccv4Zjy

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 10, 2022

Ours is an accommodating military:

Air Force Forms ‘LGBTQ’ and ‘Indigenous Nations Equality’ Focus Groups

U.S. Army Announces the Allowance of Lipstick, Nail Polish, and Better Breastfeeding

LGBTQ Soldiers May Be Allowed to Transfer From States That Don’t Affirm Their Identities

US Army Mandates Training to Help Soldiers Shake off Their Sex ‘Assigned at Birth’

Navy Says Sailors Can Use Whichever Locker Room Suits Their Gender Identity

Report: The Army Will Force Female Soldiers to Shower With Biological Males

And you may have seen this:

As the service has softened and cozied, somehow, recruitment has dropped. It’s trying to fix the problem:

US Army Jettisons GED Requirement Amid the Defense Department’s Desperation

U.S. Army Revolutionizes Its Fitness Standards so Girls Can Pass

But some nuts are hard to crack:

Unexpectedly, the USAF Finds Itself With a Critical Shortage of Pilots While It Says It Has Too Many White Officers

In the effort to increase enlistment, the Army has just announced it will amend its body fat requirement.

From Military.com:

The Army will ignore a soldier’s weight, a sharp swerve from the decades of history where troops were evaluated based on the dreaded “tape test” that tracked body dimensions. But there’s a catch — troops can skirt the standards only if they score highly on the fitness test.

Soldiers who score at least a 540 on the Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT, will be exempt from having their body fat measured. That high score effectively guarantees a soldier is very physically fit, excelling in exercises including deadlifting a lot of weight and running a fast two miles, among others. The maximum score on the fitness test is 600.

Better?

Either way, for now and the foreseeable future, potential recruits are being warmly welcomed — maybe not so much to serve as to be served.

-ALEX

See more content from me:

Trump’s Alma Mater Goes for Woke Olympic Gold With New Degree Program

Woke Biden Admin Goes Bio, Says All Transgender Women Are Subject to the Draft

Professor Claims There Are Two Sexes, All but One of Her Graduate Students Walk Out

Find all my RedState work here.

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