It appears that military leadership is not only injecting wokeness into the Armed Forces, but they are now strictly enforcing it. A commander of a U.S. Space Force unit has been relieved of his duties for comments he made while promoting his book, which details how Marxist thought is becoming more of an issue in the United States military.

In a piece for Military.com, author Oriana Pawlyk reported:

Lt Col. Matthew Lohmeier, commander of 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, was relieved from his post Friday by Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, the head of Space Operations Command, over a loss of confidence in his ability to lead, Military.com has exclusively learned.

A Space Force spokesperson told Military.com that “This decision was based on public comments made by Lt. Col. Lohmeier in a recent podcast” in an email. “Lt. Gen. Whiting has initiated a Command Directed Investigation on whether these comments constituted prohibited partisan political activity.”

Lohmeier self-published a book titled “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military,” in which he discusses the growing prevalence of hard leftist ideology in the Armed Forces.

The commander made an appearance with L. Todd Wood, host of the “Information Operation” podcast, to promote his book. He discussed how several American institutions, including the media, universities, federal agencies, and the military, are embracing Marxist thought and implementing it into their operations. He believes these ideas, which are often disseminated through diversity training, are the cause for the division occurring in American political discourse today.

The increasing focus on wokeism became apparent when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a one-day stand-down on extremism in the ranks. Every military agency was required to take one day to observe the stand-down.

“Lohmeier said, he was given a booklet that cited the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol as an example of extremism, but did not mention the civil disobedience and destruction of property that took place following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis last May,” according to Pawlyk.

Lohmeier, who served as a flight instructor for the Air Force, moved into the Space Force in October 2020. His unit is responsible for space-based missile warning systems.

On the podcast, he said: “The diversity, inclusion and equity industry and the trainings we are receiving in the military … is rooted in critical race theory, which is rooted in Marxism.”

The commander said his book is not meant to be political but is a warning about the politicization of the military. There are rules regarding the type of speech in which active-duty service members can engage.

Jim Golby, a senior fellow at Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin, told Pawlyk that in most cases, members of the service can freely express their views but are expected to adhere to their branch’s core values.

“Those are fairly broad and would not prevent publication, but might impose some minor limitations on content,” Golby said. He explained that policies related to a member’s security clearance or other factors are addressed by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)  or other such contracts.

However, some of these agreements do not completely delineate what is acceptable for a service member to say publicly. “The line on what is a ‘military matter’ or ‘subject of significant concern’ is not entirely clear, and likely only comes into play if someone is discussing personal experiences in the military and not outside research or personal political opinions,” he said. “And again, that is primarily related to sensitive positions where you have access to classified or sensitive information.”

What is interesting about Lohmeier’s story is that people who disagree with his position on the growing fixation on promoting wokeness in the military would have trouble explaining his firing. Those arguing that the defense secretary’s endeavor to promote ideas rooted in Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the military is just a nonsensical, right-wing reactionary boogeyman wouldn’t be able to get around the fact that he was clearly dismissed because he is arguing against this trend.

Lohmeier’s situation demonstrates that it is not enough for the hard left to inject their cultural theology into the military; they must also enforce compliance with their precepts. If you speak out of turn, you must be punished.

With the recent reports on wokeness in the military and even in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), it is increasingly becoming clear that the hard left is indeed spreading its ideology into as many American institutions as it possibly can. They are using Critical Race Theory ostensibly to address disparities in the nation’s treatment of minorities, and without an alternative solution, the American public will eventually accept the hard left’s idea fully.

If conservatives wish to defeat the spread of CRT, they cannot do so simply by criticizing it. The movement must offer ideas that can compete with the so-called progressives left’s solutions. Pretending that many racial issues don’t still exist is not a viable option at this juncture. Ignoring these problems did nothing more than allow the far left to dominate the conversation on these issues. Instead of letting this happen, the right must offer conservative solutions instead of just allowing the left to inject its ideology into our lives.