AMAC Exclusive – By Aaron Flanigan
Earlier this year, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley—previously branded by President Donald Trump as a woke “television general”—took to CNN to complain that accusations of wokeism in the U.S. military are vastly overhyped. But despite Milley’s claim that the military has not been infected by woke ideology, there is a growing mountain of evidence pointing to the military brass’s descent into social, cultural, and political leftism.
Here are ten prominent examples that every American should be aware of.
1. Milley’s Defiant 2020 Resignation Letter
Ironically, few people have done more to corroborate accusations of wokeism in the military than Mark Milley himself.
At the peak of the June 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, Milley drafted a resignation letter to President Donald Trump that alleged Trump was “doing great and irreparable harm” to the nation.
“The events of the last couple weeks have caused me to do deep soul-searching, and I can no longer faithfully support and execute your orders as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Milley wrote in the leaked letter, which he never sent to the President. “I believe that you have made a concerted effort over time to politicize the United States military. I thought that I could change that. I’ve come to the realization that I cannot, and I need to step aside and let someone else try to do that.”
But instead of submitting the letter and tendering his resignation, The New Yorker reported that Milley ultimately decided to remain in his role and “fight” Trump from within the administration. “F*** that s***,” Milley reportedly told his staff. “I’ll just fight him.”
In other words, per the New Yorker, Milley openly admitted to insubordination and a willing violation of his oath to defend the Constitution and the rule of law by sabotaging civilian leadership of the military.
2. Milley Sought to Undermine Trump by Speaking to a Chinese Military Official
In another alarming incident, Milley reportedly spoke to a Chinese military official behind Trump’s back to promise he would provide advance warning in the event of a U.S. attack—yet another jarring act of insubordination.
When this story broke in late 2021, Milley received relentless criticism from conservatives and former military leaders, including an onslaught of calls for his resignation, requests for him to testify before Congress, and even accusations of treason.
Milley’s actions and attitude reflect the concerning belief of some high-ranking military officials that they have a right to subvert the interests of the duly elected commander-in-chief if they feel compelled to do so.
3. CRT Books Included on Navy Reading List
In one of the most notorious instances of wokeism in the military under the Biden administration, the Navy Professional Reading Program added books to their reading list that openly promote leftist creeds. One such book is How to Be Antiracist, a work by prominent leftist scholar Ibram X. Kendi which explicitly argues that “the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination” and “capitalism is essentially racist.”
In a June 2021 congressional hearing, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday, when questioned by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) on whether he agreed with Kendi’s assertion that capitalism is racist, amazingly refused to answer the question. Instead, he insisted that he would “have to go back to the book to take a look at that.”
Additionally, during a separate congressional hearing, Milley justified the inclusion of objectionable reading materials by announcing that he wants to “understand white rage” – lending credence to Critical Race Theory’s contentious ideas and further calling into question Milley’s integrity and commitment to nonpartisanship.
4. Navy Indoctrinating Recruits with Pronoun Videos
In June 2022, the U.S. Navy came under fire for forcing new recruits to watch training videos on “proper pronoun usage.” A four-minute-long video, which was posted to the website of the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, declares, “Using someone’s pronouns is a simple way to affirm someone’s identity.”
The hosts of the video emphasize the need to create “a safe space for everybody” through the use of “inclusive language”—including using gender-neutral language when uncertain of someone’s “gender identity.”
As Robert J. O’Neill, who served on the Navy SEAL team that took down Osama Bin Laden, quipped on Twitter in response to the video, “Let me make it simple for the entire U.S. Navy: Your pronouns are shipmate/shipmates. There. I just saved the taxpayers millions by avoiding ridiculously useless training.”
In a similar incident from last year, the Marine Corps announced that they were considering banning usage of “sir” and “ma’am” by recruits in order to avoid “misgendering” someone.
5. DEI Hiring Standards at the DOD
Biden Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has suggested implementing “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” hiring standards, most commonly seen in left-wing corporate boardrooms and college campuses, in the military—a decision that would place factors like race, gender, and sexual orientation ahead of merit for determining promotions and commendations.
6. Military Paying for “Gender Transition” Surgeries
In yet another egregious instance of wokeism in the military, the U.S. Army currently pays for “gender transition surgeries” for service members. As Military.com reported in June 2021, “Transgender soldiers can openly serve in the Army and the force will provide hormone therapy, mental health care, and surgeries they might require, according to a force-wide memo.”
Notably, such treatments are still highly experimental, with ongoing debate in the medical community about their safety and efficacy.
However, this practice may soon be coming to an end, as House Republicans recently passed a landmark bill that would prohibit taxpayer coverage of “transition” surgeries and medically unnecessary hormone prescriptions.
7. Military Funding Abortion Travel Funds
Even as conservatives have made great strides in protecting unborn life, the U.S. military has openly funded out-of-state travel funds for individuals who serve in the Armed Forces and want an abortion.
This July, Biden National Security spokesman John Kirby declared that abortion is a “sacred obligation” of the U.S. military, implying that abortion access is vital to military readiness. “Our policies, whether they are diversity, inclusion, and equity, whether they’re about transgender individuals who qualify, physically and mentally to serve, to be able to do it with dignity, or whether it is about female service members, 1 in 5, or female family members being able to count on the kinds of health care, reproductive care specifically, that they need to serve, that is a foundational sacred obligation of military leaders across the river,” Kirby stated from the White House podium.
Thankfully, this summer’s House military spending bill also prohibits the use of Department of Defense funds to pay for costs related to elective abortions. Democrats’ intense belief that it is a sacred obligation to use taxpayer dollars to fund abortions for military personnel and their families underscores that today’s military appears to be more committed to defending radical abortion and DEI policies than it is to defending America’s national security.
8. Subsidizing “Family Friendly” Drag Shows and Travel to Pride Events
Along with funding travel for elective abortions, the U.S. Air Force this year also authorized travel costs for service members to attend “pride” events.
According to a June 1 Air Force memo, Air and Space Force commanders were permitted to use “unit funds” to pay for members to “travel to, and participate in, this year’s [Department of the Air Force] Pride events if approved by their individual supervisory authority.”
No matter one’s feeling about LGBTQ+ issues, paying for service members to attend pride parades is an inherently political act and does not contribute to military readiness.
Furthermore, earlier this year, the Air Force issued a separate memo that “empowers” Air Force officials to “plan and conduct” activities” related to “rainbow month”—including drag shows. That memo came shortly after the U.S. Navy brought on a “drag queen” as a “Navy Digital Ambassador.”
9. Joe Biden Used U.S. Marines as a Prop for Divisive Political Speech
In one of the most jarring instances of the left’s political weaponization of the military, Joe Biden—in perhaps the most divisive speech ever delivered by a sitting U.S. president —used the U.S. Marines Corps as a political prop by forcing two Marines to flank him as he demonized the Republican Party as an “extreme threat to our democracy” and declared conservatives to be enemies of the state.
As even CNN host Brianna Keilar was forced to admit on Twitter following the speech, “Whatever you think of this speech the military is supposed to be apolitical. Positioning Marines in uniform behind President Biden for a political speech flies in the face of that.”
10. 2023 DOD Budget Includes Funds to Root Out “Extremist” Activity
According to the Heritage Foundation, the Department of Defense’s 2023 budget requested $34.2 million to root out “extremist” political activity—even though a study conducted by the Department itself found that less than 0.005 percent of the two million active military personnel were linked to any activity that can be reliably described as “extremist.” And of course, to most Democrats, charges of “extremism” can be applied to anyone who is even marginally right-of-center, which suggests that the U.S. military apparatus is actively interested in targeting its conservative service members.
As the world stands on the brink of nuclear war and tensions with overseas rivals such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea continue to intensify, having a strong military is vitally important. For the good of not just the United States, but of the entire world, military and government leaders would be wise to address the military’s wokeism problem—and quickly.
Aaron Flanigan is the pen name of a writer in Washington, D.C.
