Wokeism’s Impact on our Military

Every year on Veterans Day I reflect on my military experiences and on our current military situation. Granted, I am old codger but I still perceive matters today through the lens of a young paratrooper in the 1960s.

Our country’s military preparedness is the most important function of our government. And this preparedness directly relates to our faith when it comes to freedom of belief and religious expression. We must first have the security that can guarantee such freedoms.

But freedom of religious expression has become an issue in the military just as it is in our culture at large. There are many Catholics serving in the military.  There is also an Archdiocese for the Military Services and many Catholic Chaplains. And service regulations and leadership views on religious faith impact all of these.

Unfortunately, the status of our military is not on most citizens’ radar screens.  Estimates say that approximately .4 percent of the population currently serves in the military.  And veterans make up only about 7 percent of population. One consequence of this is a lack of knowledge and concern by most of what military service involves.

Military readiness

The Heritage Foundation recently released its 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength. It evaluated a number of factors for each service in assessing its military preparedness to secure victories in two major conflicts at once in different parts of the world. A five point scale (very weak, weak, marginal, strong, very strong) was applied.

There was a wide diversity of readiness between and among various military units.  However, the total military force received a “Weak” rating. This rating reflects a decline in readiness over the last ten years. The report noted this is due to many factors.  But major factors are underfunding, poorly defined priorities, and exceedingly poor discipline.

While a detailed analysis of all the factors is not practical here, the issue of poorly defined priorities is one that has many readiness implications.  It also can and does affect freedom of religious expression within the military.

Wokeism affecting priorities in the military

Over the last 15-20 years, “Wokeism” and the political correctness seen in our country at large has crept into the military.  Today it is evident in many service venues.

Lt. Colonel Matthew Lohmeier presents one of the most detailed analyses of this problem in his book “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military.”  This Air Force officer, pilot, and USAF Academy grad outlines what has been happening with the forced indoctrination of identity ideology.  He also exposes how “social engineering” has penetrated our military.

Lohmeier’s book provides a wide range of examples that highlight how “diversity” has become a priority for training, regulations and promotion. A few examples are:

• Critical Race Theory (CRT) indoctrination is occurring at all military bases and service academies. It includes mandatory “Diversity and Inclusion training” with a focus on the negative effects of white privilege.
• The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act created high level Diversity Officer positions. Their function is to approve promotion for officers who embrace Critical Race Theory (CRT) and diversity efforts.
• There is a forced encouragement with promotion for service members supporting ACLU and Planned Parenthood as action items to confront white supremacy.
• There is a redefining of Department of Defense (DOD) promotion focus away from merit to race and sex quotas.
• The emphasis on diversity now includes serious consideration to lowering the physical readiness standards to allow females into combat units.

What’s Really Important?

A good example of our military leaders’ succumbing to misplaced diversity priorities took place in 2009.  A Muslim Army officer murdered a number of Fort Hood soldiers. The officer had voiced anti-American attitudes, expressed radical Muslim views at his duty station, and even had poor performance reports. However, he was still promoted and maintained. This is because, as was later revealed, his commander did want to appear biased against Muslims.

Given all that, the Army Chief of Staff General George Casey stated “And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.”

I found that quote appalling. Our military leadership has two tasks 1) to win a war and 2) to deter war. It accomplishes the later by creating certainty in the minds of potential enemies that they cannot win against us.

So what might our adversaries think of us when they observe the social engineering in our military?

When they see our military spending time on diversity training rather than combat skills training, or male soldiers having to wear high heels in required sensitivity training, they judge us by their standards. And their standards are all about their own “hard core” training.  They train to defeat and annihilate a potential enemy and nothing else.

The end result of this Wokeism shows up in our military preparedness. Less time spent on necessary combat skills training is resulting in a decrease in morale and group cohesiveness. Yet all are necessary for combat readiness.

An additional result is that many top combat officers are leaving the service.  What’s more, all military services are failing to meet the hiring quotas necessary to keep troop strength up.

Wokeness affecting religious freedom in the military

Military preparedness to win wars must have priority.  And support by service commanders for religious belief by the troops is a necessary part of that readiness. But just as wokeness has diminished the combat skill base, so it has infiltrated the military’s policies on religious freedom. All of this is affecting readiness.

Organizations such as the Family Research Council and the First Liberty Institute have been monitoring the situation.

Attacks on religious freedom come from within the military service itself.  But they also come from outside organizations such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS). The AUSCS advocates for the free exercise of religion.  However, it does so by attempting to destroy any and all expression of religion in the armed forces.

The various attacks are directly impacting rank and file troops.  In today’s military, threats, disciplinary actions, bad conduct discharges and prosecutions are resulting for the following “offenses” –

• Expressing objections to homosexuality and same sex marriage based on religious beliefs.
• Displaying a bible verse in the workplace.
• Use of the word God in a flag folding speech.
• All those in the military receive an ID tag to wear (dog tag) that has one’s religious preference. One can even put atheist if so inclined. The DOD is facing a federal lawsuit after it decided to block Bible passages being put on dog tags.

Attacking Chaplains

The military Chaplain Corps goes back to the Revolution. General George Washington requested military chaplains to serve alongside troops and minister to their spiritual needs as an official part of the army. Since then five Chaplains (all Catholic priests) have received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Perhaps the most heinous attacks of applied Wokeism are against our military chaplains:

• An Army chaplain expressed support for a then-existing DOD policy banning those diagnosed with gender dysphoria for serving in the military. He expressed it as a religious view in a private social media account, but the army still threatened disciplinary action.
• A Navy chaplain almost lost his job and retirement benefits by answering questions about his church’s teachings on faith, sexuality and marriage in a private counseling session.
• An Army chaplain, in keeping with his denomination’s doctrine, was threatened with disciplinary action for declining to conduct a marriage retreat for same-sex couples.
• An army chaplain received a letter of reprimand that could have ended his career because he shared a religious testimony during a suicide prevention class.
• An Air Guard base was targeted for a potential court case because the Guard was going to use uniformed chaplains to give invocations at official events.

Poor Readiness

Diminishing the military chaplain’s function and freedom of religious expression by the troops diminishes the military’s total readiness. The Association for the United States Army issued this statement:

“The Army’s efforts to keep soldiers’ religious views in check could be interfering with strengthening professional ethics and strong character, says a controversial Army War College report. The services can ill afford to lose the irrefutable power of soldiers’ personal moralities as they serve in both peace and in war, providing an additional motivation and resilience to prevail in the arduous tasks and inevitable recoveries inherent in their sacrificial service.”

Support our Troops

Our military chaplains and troops need support to combat the Wokeism affecting their religious freedom and military preparedness. As concerned civilians, we can aid that fight by supporting several organizations.

First and foremost, we can support the Archdiocese for the Military.  This archdiocese provides a multitude of services to the troops and chaplains.  We can also support two advocacy and educational organizations.

Lt. Colonel Lohmeier heads up the Save the American Military PAC, called SAMPAC. It specializes in supporting candidates who support religious freedom and preparedness in the military. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo directs the Champion American Values Fund (CAVFUND).  Its website enables those currently serving and veterans to document Wokeism events in the military.

Finally, we can pray for our military daily with the prayer to St Michael the Archangel.  St. Michael is the patron saint of soldiers, especially paratroopers.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle;
be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into hell Satan
and all the other evil spirits who roam about the world, seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.