I have linked to Kurt Schlichter several times on this blog O' mine. I really enjoy his writing. I wish I could be as nimble with the words as he. He has a gift of gab when dancing his fingers across a keyboard.
Just tonight I read his latest non-paywall column and knew I had to excerpt and link.
Most of you are aware that I spent the lion's share of my adulthood serving this once great nation of ours. I thoroughly enjoyed my life in the military. While I have a few regrets, those are few and far between and of such little importance that I hardly remember them. The men and women I served with, with a couple of notable exceptions, were topnotch people. They were people I would, and had to, trust my life with at times.
Many of these folks came from rural America, and had mostly traditional views. They believed in the family. They believed in the Constitution. And they believed in America and what she has represented all of these years. The shining light on the hill. There were also others who came from suburbia and the inner cities. The vast majority also firmly believed in the promise that was America.
Towards the end of my career things started to change. It was subtle and generally didn't impact you if you ignored it or didn't push back. I did neither. So the tail end of my career had a few bumps. But it didn't tarnish how I felt about my years of service.
How things have gone lately in the military has not surprised me much. The speed at which it has happened has caught me just a little off guard. We are all aware that the left has taken over nearly every institution of consequence. The military was the last bastion where conservative folks didn't feel as if we were outsiders. We didn't have to hide who we were. Within reason, we could speak freely. Even folks who leaned to the left felt their opinions matter and were heard. We didn't ostracize them. The ranks came from all walks of life and life styles. And we didn't care all that much. As long as the individual was able to perform the mission and you felt that had your back when the chips were down, we worked as team.
The left has gone full throttle to eradicate the last major institution they, until just recently, had little to no traction. The military was one place we conservatives felt comfortable and that just rubbed the left raw. In their mind, this just could not be. As I mentioned earlier, there was an undercurrent of leftism that was showing itself, but they had to hold back. There were just too many conservatives and traditionalists around for a full takeover. Obama started the changes. He promoted generals and admirals who supported his efforts. Either because they were believers or because they saw this as a way to get those coveted additional stars. The cynic in me feels most of these people who got promoted over more traditional folks did what they felt they needed to do in order to get prompted. When Trump came into office, they had painted themselves into a corner and they had to keep up the facade. Too late to turn back now.
I know one thing for certain, I could not serve at this time. I would never make it through the woke BS.
Saying all this it's now time to get back to Kurt. In his column he makes several outstanding suggestions for the next President. He is hopeful, as we all are, this next one will be a Republican. While he doesn't come right out and say it, when he means Republican, he is most assuredly does not mean so-called Republicans like Mittens and his ilk.
One thing you should about Kurt is that he also had a career in the military. While his perspective and suggestions aren't necessarily unique, he can speak of this with experience. The link to his full column is here.
The president's objective must be to reorient the United States military into a war-fighting organization that welcomes and celebrates the normal Americans who have traditionally filled its ranks. What does this mean? As my new book, "We'll Be Back: The Fall and Rise of America," describes in detail, the military has morphed from the disciplined combat-focused force that brough us the spectacular victory in Desert Storm into a demoralized social program with tanks that has failed to win an unequivocal major victory in three decades.
I will have to say that I am glad not to have the stain of serving under Former VP Biden. I served under Obama as my CINC, and it was, at times, a tough go. I will have to say this, while Obama wanted us out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and he did put us under rules of engagement that probably cost American lives, at least he didn't pull us out of those God-forsaken countries without a plan. It almost seems like Biden woke up one morning and said we're leaving Afghanistan today, make it happen. And his lackey generals did just that. It cost the lives of 14 Americans, and countless others who didn't want to love under the Taliban regime.
I was part of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. A VERY SMALL PART. But it was obvious from the word go that our leadership from the President on down had our backs. They were going to give us every tool we needed to defeat the 4th largest standing army in the world. Not only did we crush Saddam's Army, but we served notice to the world that we were not to be trifled with.
As he points out, we no longer instill fear, or at the very least concern.
Here is one last excerpt that I whole-heartedly endorse. If the upper level brass won't support the new President's objectives, this when he/she will find out.
The commander-in-chief must command. Flash forward to the first Monday of his administration, at 0900 hours in the Oval Office as the new joint chiefs sit with notebooks ready…
"Gentlemen, this is an orders briefing, not a decision briefing, meaning I am not asking for your input. I am telling you my intent, so be sure you understand it before you walk out of this room because Friday at 0900 we meet here for you to tell me – your Commander-in-Chief – how you have fulfilled my intent. If your answer is anything but an honest, 'Yes, sir, I have fulfilled your orders,' I will relieve you. Effective now, we are out of the diversity, inclusion, and equity business. It's over. Finished. Done. Every DIE program is terminated. Every Norwegian History Month or the like is ended. There are no more DIE classes, training, or any of this woke garbage. There are no drag queens on base and no men wearing women's uniforms. It all ends. Make sure the curricula at the academies and war colleges are scrubbed of this poison. Make sure no officer reading lists includes racists like Ibram X. Kendi. The nonsense is terminated starting now. Oh, and you will strike any reference to 'white nationalism' and 'climate change' from any documents that presumes to list the strategic threats the United States military is facing. Do each of you understand my intent? Be here at 0900 Friday to confirm you have executed my orders. Dismissed."
Kurt rightly points out if this crap is done away with, morale will improve quite quickly. What he doesn't touch on is recruitment. Right now, the military is struggling to find quality and qualified candidates to fill the ranks. I mentioned above that the military has traditionally been filled with people who lean conservative. These folks are still joining, but in increasingly fewer numbers. Maybe it's a family tradition. Maybe it has been their dream and this dream has clouded their vision to be able to see exactly what is going on. With all the BS that is being pushed in the service nowadays, many of these folks are not finding the military a suitable choice. Why would anyone join an organization that looks at them as the potential enemy?
Go read is column in full. I'm sure you will enjoy it.
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