“Some 41 percent of the military identify as members of minority groups,” the Department of Defense (DoD) reported on Feb. 9, 2021. That number is much higher than the 24 percent of the U.S. population who identify as non-white. “We all bleed RED,” service members say. Years ago, when a commanding general asked for a report on all disciplinary cases by color, a black Chief Master Sergeant from rural Alabama whose parents grew up under actual racism, reported back, “All our soldiers with disciplinary cases are green.”

The least racist people in America are in our military. It is obvious to all who have served, because one’s identity or race is irrelevant when people are trying to kill you and your teammates. No one cares about race when bullets are whizzing past your head.   

So why has President Biden declared white supremacy as America’s number one threat?  Why has the secretary of Defense created a Counter Extremism Working Group to uncover extremism in the ranks?  The actual record of racial/radical incidents is not the reason -- the number of cases is tiny.  With 3.1 million in uniform, DoD reports less than 100 annual incidents of “extremism,” without defining extremism.  When the DoD spokesman was asked for specifics of extremism, he did not have them.  If the government declared that “Trolls” are a threat to the Republic and began an investigation, would we nod our heads and say, “I want to know about Troll Rage” because as a child we learned from fairy tales how vicious trolls can be?  Now the fairy tales are about white racism.

Yet, while admitting that 41 percent of the military identified as minorities, the DoD reported that diversity, inclusion and equity were military necessities. Diversity, Inclusion, Equity (DIE) is the language of Critical Race Theory (CRT).  Diversity is the promotion of division based on identity quotas or targets.  Inclusion is code for exclusion of specific groups based on race, gender and sexual identity.  Equity is CRT’s ambiguous terminology, easily confused with equality. Equity is equality of outcomes (usually quotas), which is reformulated Marxism.

Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc. (“STARRS”) was formed in 2021 to educate the services and America that our once-capable military has been diverted from its core national defense mission into social justice warriorship.  STARRS has incontrovertible evidence that this divisive threat spans all branches.

DIE Torpedoes Navy Readiness

With DIE implemented throughout the Navy, a return to selection board photographs are proposed to return to increase equitable minority promotion (quotas). Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to be an Anti-Racist, has lectured midshipmen that we need racism against “whites” to make up for past racism. Kendi’s book is on the Chief of Naval Operation’s recommended reading list and the criminal justice system is bogusly defined as inherently racist and the new Jim Crow.  A report commissioned by Senator Tom Cotton and representatives Jim Banks, Mike Gallagher, and Dan Crenshaw quoted a black officer as saying: “Sometimes I think we care more about whether we have enough diversity officers than if we’ll survive a fight with the Chinese.”  The report also revealed readiness problems are due, in part, to diversity emphasis taking priority over operational training requirements.  That’s why ships have collided and arson has destroyed a capital ship with a replacement cost of over $3.4B.  Ship handling and firefighting appear to be less important than DIE.

Air/Space Forces Shoot Down Core Values

The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) has not been responsive to 15 Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by STARRS, including a summary of “racially based incidents” that justified a DIE push for cadets.  If there’s nothing to hide, then why no response?  One of the Space Force’s top-rated lieutenant colonels, Matthew Lohmeier, was removed from command and separated without benefits because he wrote and spoke the truth about racism/radicalism in the Space Force.  His concerns about divisiveness of the Marxist push were dismissed and labelled “political,” despite his book being pre-approved.  At USAFA, a separate cadet diversity chain of command has been established outside of the regular squadron chain, which is akin to the Communist Party political officers within Russian military units.                                                                                                                 

Diversity Blows up West (Woke) Point 

The Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff defended the CRT program and testified to Congress that he wanted to understand “white rage.”  The United States Military Academy has been teaching CRT along with white rage seminars as reimagined Shakespeare.  Ta-Nehisi Coats spent two days at West Point in 2018 speaking about race. Coats’ toxic views published in the Atlantic in 2014 hold that all whites are racist and calls for trillions in reparations for all blacks.  According to a spokesman of Congressman Crenshaw’s office, more than 500 whistleblower complaints have been submitted about conditions in the services.  If 500 have already come forward, how many thousands have been intimidated into silence?  One scared officer reported anonymously to STARRS that he was threatened with “firing” if he even talked to STARRS.  Why is the military denying his First Amendment rights?

What is Indoctrination Doing to our Armed Services? 

Military members are voting with their feet.  Three West Point cadets recently left the academy because of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, increasing and troubling wokeness, and promotion of leftist ideas.  The Army and Navy are now offering $50,000 bonuses for joining in select fields, which is a sign of low recruitment.  Is this the Great Reset of the U.S. military?  China and Russia are openly laughing at us and accelerating their imperialistic plans.

STARRS was formed to protect the U.S. military and our Republic from racism and radicalism. We never thought that the phrase in our oath about protecting against domestic enemies would reference this “woke” threat to our country and our way of life.  We shouldn’t reimagine our combat warriors into social justice warriors.  That is the definition of insanity.

Capt. Brent Ramsey, USN (Ret) is STARRS Director at Large and Col. Michael D. Pefley, USAF (Ret) is VP of Communications for STARRS

Image: Picryl