Rather than focus on readiness and lethality, leaders of some nonprofits are more concerned about President-elect Donald Trump and his nominee for Secretary of Defense. Why? Because they might stop the relentless pursuit of patriots in the military that occurred during the Biden administration.
Yes, these nonprofits are worried about "extremists," not our readiness for World War III or other conflicts.
Groups like Protect Our Defenders and Human Rights push the narrative that "diversity is our strength" rather than that lethality should be our strength.
“The individual who President-elect Trump has tapped to be the next Secretary of Defense – it seems like he’s very much trying to unwind those policies,” said Josh Connolly, senior vice president of Protect Our Defenders. “It seems like he has a very clear bias to dismantle efforts to address these issues.”
If Hegseth becomes the Secretary of Defense, the agency will likely “put their head in the sand” on the issue of extremism, Connolly said.
Hegseth would disagree, and emphasized that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) erodes military values.
“The dumbest phrase on planet Earth in the military is ‘Our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth said.
Is it any surprise that warfighters won't join the military when groups like START, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, say that extremists share common threads like mental health problems, criminal histories, and military service.
“We thought having a criminal history or undiagnosed mental illness were the things that would come out as distinguishing the mass casualty offenders. Those matter, but the thing that came out as being the most significant predictor was having a military background,” said Michael Jensen, a senior researcher at START. “That was surprising and alarming and runs counter to what decades of criminological research would have you believe about who’s most likely to engage in this type of activity.”
Military news outlets who grasp onto the same arguments then attempt to pin the current recruiting crisis on fear of death in combat or the job market. Each may have some limited influence on recruiting. Still, the largest chorus of voices heard from the families and those who would typically enlist is that the Department of Defense's pursuit of patriots, woke ideologies, and lack of desire to focus on training, readiness, and lethality has them sitting on the sidelines until the Department of Defense prioritizes correctly.
https://starrs.us/heres-how-the-trump-admin-can-purge-dei-from-americas-military-and-foreign-policy
