Letter to the Editor of the Connecticut Examiner by Colleen Roberts, a MacArthur Society Supporter

To the Editor:

Are Duty, Honor, Country the principles being promoted in the United States Military and at our nation’s service academies? Over the past several years they have gradually been replaced by Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

What has happened to ability not appearance, unity not division and service not self? Apparently, they no longer matter.

The military hierarchy in Washington D.C. and senior leadership at our service academies insist that they’re focused solely on warfighting and building a unified military. But their actions and the evidence indicate otherwise.

The military, unlike other institutions, is the source of our national security. It must remain independent, apolitical, above the influence of political parties and their ideological agendas. But purely political decisions made years ago, including other decisions made more recently, have initiated policies that have undermined our military today.

President Obama’s Executive Order 1358 issued in 2011 established DEI as the official government policy in the federal workforce, including the Department of Defense (DoD). President Biden’s Executive Order 14035 in 2021 further expanded the advancement of “racial justice” in government.

DEI is a divisive ideology rooted in Marxism and Critical Race Theory (CRT). As a political agenda it’s been sweeping across America, undermining our founding principles, transforming K-12 education, the judicial system, our medical system, and American culture and society.

Social justice warriors and ideologues in the D.C. bureaucracy who promote DEI have now set their sights on reshaping our military branches and service academies.

By separating people into identity groups, pitting one against another on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity or other characteristics, DEI is destroying the essential elements necessary for a robust and well-prepared military force – unit cohesiveness, trust in each other and dedication to a common mission and purpose.

Beginning in 2013, hundreds of high-ranking military officers who publicly disagreed with the administration regarding military policy, were fired or purged from the services.

This trend continues today and has left the military largely devoid of some of its finest leaders. Many of the officers remaining are unwilling to speak out in opposition to the implementation of destructive woke government policies in the services and at the military academies.

A DEI bureaucracy now exists within the DoD. Hardly a branch of the military is without its own “Council”, or “Review Board” to deal with perceived barriers to advancement and supposed discrimination in the services.

The Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODAI), established in 2022 by the Secretary of Defense, is yet another bureaucratic organization in the department. Its purpose is to make recommendations on policies to ensure “racial/ethnic diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in the armed Forces.”

DACODAI now includes numerous ‘experts’, consultants, sub-committees, focus groups and others intent on gathering data and statistics to prove discrimination and unfairness within the services. The military’s plummeting recruitment and retention rates are the result of the chaos these bureaucracies have created!

Enlisted personnel disgusted with drag queen shows aboard Navy ships, harangues about systemic racism and lectures about pronouns, are leaving the services in droves.

At the military academies, leadership, the culture and the curriculum have been drastically affected by woke policies instituted there.

Many newly commissioned officers, each having just received an elite education costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars, are demoralized and have already decided to quit the services after fulfilling their five-year active-duty commitments. America can ill afford this drain of highly educated young military officers given the global threats facing us.

Senior military leadership is gravely damaging the academies with DEI and politically correct policies.

The Pentagon insists, without a shred of scientific evidence, that diversity is the greatest strength of our military and makes for a more lethal fighting force. Even West Point’s Chief Data Officer admitted publicly that he had no empirical data to support this statement.

Nevertheless, the Academy Superintendent has fallen into line with his recent announcement, without prior notice, that the words Duty, Honor, Country were being removed from the Academy’s mission statement. Cadets will now be committed to “the Army Values”; unfortunately, those values are now DEI.

Unity not diversity is the source of our military strength.

The nation’s service academies, and their leaders must reject the DEI political agenda and return to their original purpose to educate and train “leaders of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country.” Senior leadership cannot simply pay lip service to these lofty goals while at the same time enable DEI at the academies they oversee.

The changing culture of tolerance for Honor Code Violations and favoritism towards certain groups, a result of DEI, causes dissention among students. (Recent cheating and a drug overdose scandal have occurred). The Code is the moral backbone of academy life and its standards must be restored.

The Honor Code cannot be degraded to become “aspirational” (West Point), or “a developmental journey” (Air Force Academy).

Above all, performance and ability must be rewarded, not skin color.

Academically, the service academies are not elite liberal arts colleges. They are military training institutions whose students must be taught the skills needed to fight and win the nation’s wars.

Their faculties should be composed primarily of military officers with real-world experience in military affairs, not the 30 to 40% of civilian instructors who bring their personal opinions and political biases into the classroom.

Student projects recently submitted at West Point included “Deconstructing Patriotism” and “The Evolution of Cross Dressing”, both supported by a civilian faculty member. Courses in multiple departments reflect CRT, courses such as “Social Inequality”, and “The Politics of Race, Gender & Sexuality”.

Materials that emphasize “whiteness”, “modern slavery in the USA”, “white oppression”, “colonialism” and other anti-American topics have no place at these institutions.

The DoD and Academy Superintendents have persistently refused to answer legitimate inquiries regarding these problems, even inquiries from members of Congress. Freedom of Information Act Requests (FOIAs) routinely drag on for several years, violating the federal requirement of a 20-day response. FOIA’s that are answered are almost entirely redacted, rendering the information useless.

In spite of these setbacks, two organizations have been successful in acquiring facts about the damaging effects of DEI in the military: Judicial Watch and the military advocacy group STARRS (Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services). Currently, STARRS has filed 45 FOIA requests; 35 remain open, with 5 on appeal.

This apolitical organization of retired military veterans and patriots has been steadfast in the mission to educate the public about the politicization of the military, to eliminate CRT/Woke ideologies from DoD policy and restore meritocracy to the services. STARRS is working with Congress and providing members with the information they need to address these issues legislatively and defund DEI in the military altogether.

Its website https://starrs.us/ is the premier online resource for comprehensive and accurate information about the critical matters facing the US. Military and the service academies.

The STARRS website should be essential reading for every American. The security of their families and the entire nation are at stake.

Colleen Roberts
Guilford, CT

Colleen Roberts is the author of No Surrender: The New Patriots in the Battle for America

Book Description:

What has happened to the patriotism and pride in America that citizens felt and displayed after our homeland was attacked on September 11, 2001? In the aftermath of that event, the outward signs of patriotism were everywhere. American flags were flown, chants of “USA-USA” were heard in communities across the country, at public ceremonies, and on the steps of the Capitol Building by members of both political parties. The American spirit of unity in times crisis was on full display.

In the years since, Americans have lost confidence in themselves and in their nation. American solidarity has fractured along political, ideological, cultural and racial lines. Citizens are losing their freedom due to the explosive growth of the administrative state and its massive bureaucracy. Intrusive mandates and regulations now control every aspect of our lives. What was once a free press is now just a propaganda organ for government policies. Anti-American organizations and social justice agitators funded by billionaires are creating deep racial division and societal chaos in the country.

Destructive ideologies such as Marxism and Critical Race Theory are transforming our educational system, our military services and American society as a whole. At the same time, our founding principles and the Constitution are also under assault. Many citizens have succumbed to the pernicious portrait of the United States as a racist nation and have come to believe the worst about their own country. The suppression of free speech and dissenting opinion have resulted, to a great extent, in an apathetic and fearful populace.

We are now in a battle to reclaim our country and our rights as free citizens. There can be no surrender in this fight. But “New Patriots” of courage are stepping up and taking action in their own ways to support America and oppose the effort to transform the nation. Here are their stories.

Like the original patriots, they are everyday people from different backgrounds. They believe in the promise of America and our founding principles of liberty, equality, opportunity and self-government. By their leadership they are demonstrating their commitment to their country and the preservation of our freedom. The author has suggestions as to how you can join them in this vital mission.