The last thing the US needs now is its military going woke, what with the increasing threats from China and Russia (Putin is launching a full scale invasion into Ukraine this very moment). However, what many conservatives have been fearing may already be happening, and it’s happening at the expense of taxpayers.
Responding to a request by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley sent a letter in January detailing the amount of money and manpower spent on new military training that deals with extremism; climate change; and diversity, equity, and inclusion – all sound like woke issues.
The letter shows that the DOD has spent $535,000 and 5.3 million man-hours on extremism stand-downs, which was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin in February of last year. This exercise was done to purportedly look for ‘extremism within the ranks.’
That was not the only spending for new DOD training. New DEI – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – training has cost the military $477,000 and 530,000 man-hours. Moreover, $5000 and 1000 hours were spent on a so-called “Climate Adaptation Plan.”
Responding to this revelation, Sen. Inhofe and 11 of his Republican colleagues on the Armed Services Committee wrote a letter condemning DOD’s ludicrous woke policies while there are legitimate threats facing the US. “We face real threats across the world, yet the Biden administration is more focused on promoting its leftist social agenda in the military instead of countering China, Russia and Iran policies or creating an effective counterterrorism plan,” the letter reads.
In the letter, Republican Senators pointed out that DOD’s own report – released in December – showed that fewer than 100 members of the military were found to have engaged in prohibited extremist activity, suggesting that extremism isn’t a real issue for the military like the top-brass in the Pentagon is sounding off about.
There are other instances where the US military, which has a long history of being apolitical, appeared ‘woke’. On Feb 10, 2022, the official twitter account of the Department of Defence posted, “NEWS: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Are Necessities in U.S. Military.” The post included an article that delves into the topic in detail.
Also, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in 2021, Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that he wants to understand ‘white rage.’ Milley made this statement while defending Critical Race Theory when asked on the topic by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. Milley also insinuated that ‘white rage’ caused the Capitol riot on Jan 6, saying, “So, what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out.”
