The ‘hollow military’ 2.0: How cultural Marxists are taking down America’s armed forces

WASHINGTON –  A generation ago, the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Edward “Shy” Meyer, warned that the budget cuts imposed by the Jimmy Carter administration were leaving the United States with a “hollow Army.” Those look like the good old days compared to the systematic decimation of today’s military which is not only suffering from insufficient resources to modernize, maintain and replace weapons and other equipment worn out by decades of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and high operational tempos elsewhere. Worse yet, our armed forces are being ravaged by the cultural Marxist’s politicization and divide-and-conquer stratagems.

The U.S. Air Force may be the most hollowed out of all the services, thanks to its Chief of Staff, Gen. C.Q. Brown — who, unlike Shy Meyer, is neither competent nor willing to speak truth to power. To the contrary, Gen. Brown exemplifies the military’s “fundamental transformation” at the hands of civilian and military leaders who seem fine with the systematic weakening of those under their command, compounded by an obsessive focus instead on such diverting and divisive Marxist agenda items as: critical race theory (CRT); Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; LGBTQ+ identity politics; transgenderism; and climate change. Inevitably, such priorities mean the end of the meritocracy whereby performance alone, particularly in combat, is the basis for decorations and promotions.

Providentially, President Biden’s nomination of Gen. Brown to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff offers an opportunity for the U.S. Senate to examine closely both his fitness to be the nation’s top military officer and to take stock of the parlous state of the military as a whole. Thanks, moreover, to a hold placed on Senate consideration of senior officers’ promotions by Senator Tommy Tuberville, they have no excuse for failing to do such due diligence.

To assist such deliberations, the Center for Security Policy (centerforsecuritypolicy.org) is proud to have joined forces with a sizeable and growing number of influential individuals and organizations, among other ways, in an informal Save America’s Military (SAM) Coalition. To date, groups like ACT for America, Eagle Forum, the Association of Mature American Citizens and the American Constitutional Rights Union’s Committee to support and Defend have facilitated over 625,000 actions encouraging Senators to reject General Brown’s undeserved promotion.

Others, including the Heritage Foundation’s Index of U.S. Military Strength, the Claremont Institute’s American Military Project and the Center for Renewing America are providing indispensable research about the parlous condition of the armed services that is adversely impacting their readiness, recruitment, modernization, morale and deterrent capabilities. Among other alarming insights drawn from such analyses has been the finding that over forty percent of the actual and impending flag and general officers whose promotions are awaiting Senate approval have publicly endorsed the aforementioned, toxic, cultural Marxist agenda.

In addition, sixty-four conservative leaders and groups have publicly opposed the Brown nomination in a joint “Memo to the Movement” sponsored by the Conservative Action Project. And four of America’s most formidable black leaders — Dr. Carol Swain, Ambassador Kenneth Blackwell, Bishop E.W. Jackson and former Congressman and Lieutenant Colonel Allen West, U.S. Army (Ret.) — have expressed their strong opposition to the imposition of CRT and DEI in America’s military and the nation as a whole.

Frank J. Gaffney, the Center for Security Policy’s founder and Executive Chairman observed: “It is rare in the public policy arena that a single vote in the U.S. Senate can meaningfully impact a large, complex and politically charged problem. A vote to reject General C.Q. Brown’s nomination to be the next Joint Chiefs Chairman, however, could be such a vote. After all, a rejection of his politicization of the military would send a powerful signal to the rest of the rank and file. Alternatively, no senator can vote for the man without, at least implicitly, signaling support for his policies — and condemning our armed forces to further divisiveness and likely defeat at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party and/or others anxious to destroy our country.”

Lieutenant Colonel Tommy Waller, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), the Center for Security Policy’s President and CEO added, “The type of accountability brought to our military’s uniformed and civilian leaders by Senator Tommy Tuberville is not only desperately needed, but long overdue. The general officers put on hold by this courageous Senator should be thoroughly evaluated — one by one — on their past performance. Far too many have embraced the DEI and CRT narratives that divide our force along racial lines and further a Marxist agenda. 

“Worse yet, the overwhelming majority of these generals were more than willing to violate U.S. law and ruthlessly enforce the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate, removing from the service those unwilling to break the law and violate their religious beliefs. Faith in the nation’s military will not be restored until the American people see the DoD’s uniformed and civilian leaders held accountable. A nation without faith in its armed services is doomed to defeat, so it behooves our elected officials to follow Senator Tuberville’s lead and seek this accountability as fast as possible.”

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