The US military, in general, and the US Army, in particular, is suffering from a recruiting crisis (see Army Backs off Enlisting High School Drop Outs but the Woke Cancer Killing Enlistments Remains Stronger Than Ever, Military Recruiting Numbers Lowest Since the Vietnam War, GAO Finds Military Has No Plan for Ongoing Recruiting Crisis, the Real Question Is Do They Care?, and Rum, Buggery, and the Lash Makes a Comeback as the US Navy Fights Recruiting Woes; Well, Better Hold the Rum for examples). My suspicion is that retention figures among the noncommissioned officer corps would show nothing less than a genocide of talent. Why this is happening has never been a secret. The Department of Defense has tried to blame COVID and the miracle of Bidenomics, but the answer is much more banal. The military is in the thrall of Woke, and they’ve made it very clear that there is no room in their ranks for those White males from the South and fly-over country who used to fill the ranks. The message has been received by the young men who are inclined to serve, just not in the current military, where they are denigrated and alternatively treated as potential predators and actual prey. The message has also been received by the men called “influencers” in Recruiting jargon, the dads, coaches, teachers, and scoutmasters (can I even say “master” anymore?) who used to counsel young men about the benefits of enlisting in the military.
The situation has gotten so bad that it reminds you of the joke about the cavalry officer who was so dumb that even the horses had begun to take notice.
In recent interviews with NPR and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” [Army Secretary Christine] Wormuth has sought to dispel any notion that the Army had gone ‘woke.’
“As I said a few times last week in some media engagements: We are a ready Army, not a ‘woke’ Army,” Wormuth said on Tuesday. “That’s something, frankly, the chief [Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville] and I said throughout posture season in hearings, in meetings with members of Congress.”
The case for why the Army is not woke just got a lot harder. Via a US Army press bulletin headlined Living authentically saves ASC Soldier’s life.
Maj. Rachel Jones, U.S. Army Sustainment Command’s Cyber Division chief, G6 (Information Management), serves openly as a transgender female Soldier. Featured on her desk is a wood sign stating “My pronouns are she/her. What are yours?” CREDIT: Army Sustainment Command Public Affairs Office
The observance of Pride Month, celebrated every June, was first recognized by the Department of Defense in June 2012. It is a time when the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community come together to celebrate love and authenticity. Many LGBTQ+ people must overcome deep-rooted fear, shame and adversity in order to live as their most authentic self, though.
The road to self-acceptance was not easy for Jones. Before coming out privately to her therapist, Jones lived every day deeply depressed and suicidal.
“When I was growing up in the ’80s and ’90s there was a lot of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. I don’t think many people meant to do that, but it’s something I heard as I was growing up repeatedly. So much so that I was convinced I was inherently evil for being transgender,” said Jones. “The pressure of hiding all of the time was so bad I grew up depressed and suicidal to the point that I always had a plan to end my life.”
The story goes on to relate even more suicidal ideation by Jones, interspersed by years of violating Army regulations.
Although Jones privately came out in 2019, she could not publicly come out due to the military’s ban on transgender service members.
In September 2011, the policy on military service of non-heterosexual personnel “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, was repealed, allowing LGB service members to openly serve in the armed forces. This did not apply, however, to transgender service members.
In October 2016, transgender service members were temporarily able to serve openly under the Department of Defense Instruction 1300.28. In July 2017, the president announced that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to serve in the U.S. military.
“It was very risky to my career to be seen in public as a transwoman prior to the ban being lifted,” said Jones.
Effective April 2021, DoDI 1300.28 was reinstated, once again allowing transgender service members to serve openly.
This is a pattern that the Army has repeated over and over. In previous posts (The US Army: an institution corrupted to its very core and Army Starts Sham Investigation Into Bondage Fetish Colonel and His Friends Because They Think You’re Stupid), I’ve noted that the Army is totally over that “I will not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do” bullsh** and has moved without pause to praising those who make a mockery of the rules.
At one time, the code of the officer corps was the same as that of West Point cadets. You will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate anyone who does. The reason for this is simple. On the battlefield, the truth is vital. Even when the truth is unpleasant and places you or your unit in an unfavorable light. In the last years of the Obama regime, I posted this story: The US Army: an institution corrupted to its very core.
This may be stupid but how is it corrupt?
Army reserve officer Tammy Smith calls her recent promotion to brigadier general exciting and humbling, saying it gives her a chance to be a leader in advancing Army values and excellence.
What she glosses over is that along with the promotion she is also publicly acknowledging her sexuality for the first time, making her the first general officer to come out as gay while still serving. It comes less than a year after the end of the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” law.
“All of those facts are irrelevant,” she said. “I don’t think I need to be focused on that. What is relevant is upholding Army values and the responsibility this carries.”
A married Army general on Tuesday introduced his spouse at a Pentagon event that featured lots of top brass, including Defense Secretary Ashton Carter as the keynote speaker.
What made this seemingly routine introduction noteworthy is that Brig. Gen. Randy S. Taylor introduced his husband, Lucas.
“My husband Lucas is sitting up front here,” Gen. Taylor said of the man in the same row as Mr. Carter, Army Secretary John McHugh and other senior officials. He said Lucas has subjugated his own career to support the general’s frequent moves over an 18-year relationship.
“We bet everything on my Army career,” said Gen. Taylor, whose 27 years of service spanned an outright ban on gays, then “don’t ask, don’t tell” and finally, the ban’s lifting in 2011.
The issue in both these cases is not the sexual preference of the officers but the fact that they entered on active duty at a time when it was against Army regulations — and illegal under the Uniform Code of Military Justice — to engage in homosexual activity. This is what is known as a fraudulent appointment. It is actually a federal crime. They accepted a salary under false pretenses. Any punishments they awarded are illegal because they held their commissions illegally. The Army is now honoring them as some sort of hero — General Smith says her promotion is about “upholding Army values” which, at some point after I left, were expanded to include lying and deceit. At a minimum, neither of these officers should have been promoted because they are self-confessed and unrepentant liars.
I visited the National Museum of the US Army at Fort Belvoir two years ago. In the display of “firsts” in the Army was a panel devoted to Brigadier General Tammy Smith, the first lesbian general. No mention of the lies and deceit that allowed her to become a general.
A man who violated Army regulations for at least a decade and has a history of mental instability is now held up as a role model. One can only conclude that the person who came up with this press release is legitimately clueless or trying to troll people on Twitter.
If you don’t want to be a woke Army, don’t be one. But don’t lie to the country about what you are doing. If someone is working out their personal drama, they shouldn’t do it on duty and in uniform while ostensibly managing a key command program. If someone is having serial suicidal ideations, they probably should be evaluated for medical discharge so they can get well. What we know for a fact is that pretending to be a woman does not reduce the suicide rate for men who think they are women.
With stuff like this, it is going to take a lot more than some progressive apparatchik to convince young men and their influencers that they have any role to play in the Army the Biden White House has created.
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