Next Joint Chiefs chairman must roll back divisive ‘woke’ policies in our military

OPINION:

The current fight over the nomination of Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff isn’t simply a fight over the leadership of our armed forces. It is, rather, a proxy battle over the politicization of the U.S. military — a trend that holds dire consequences for both national cohesion and national defense.

At the heart of the problem is the increasing progressive ideological indoctrination — what its critics term “wokeism” — that has begun to alter the fabric of one of America’s most hallowed institutions.

The problem is structural. In principle, the military should undoubtedly be more welcoming to women, minorities and marginalized segments of the population — and more representative of the country as a whole. In practice, however, “wokeism” has become overtly political and at odds with the traditional tenets of military service.

Thus, the emphasis on diversity as a norm has replaced the older, established emphasis on unity, harming cohesion and placing our country at a strategic disadvantage.

Diversity, equity and inclusion programs have introduced wholly inappropriate themes, as well as hyperpartisan political messages, into a variety of settings, including the service academies where the country’s future military leaders are molded — the same officers who are supposed to go on to serve the country irrespective of who is president.

High-ranking military leaders and Defense Department policymakers, meanwhile, have filibustered in Congress regarding the breadth and extent of these programs.

The American people have noticed. Public confidence in the military has declined markedly in recent years, owing in significant part to popular perceptions that the country’s military leadership is becoming overly politicized and engaging in practices that undermine military effectiveness.

Since 2017, according to the Reagan Institute, approval of the U.S. military has plummeted from 70% to a low of 45% in 2021. Today, it is only marginally better: some 48%.

Other surveys have documented the same trend, albeit in a less pronounced fashion. Gallup, for instance, charted a 5-point decline in support for the military (from 69% to 64%) between 2021 and 2022.

This diminishing support has very real and very dangerous consequences for national security.

Most noticeably, it has hurt military recruiting. People join the military to defend the nation and its principles, and emphasis on divisive political themes dampens the inspiration for service among those who want to fight for “God and country.”

In addition, older influences on potential recruits, such as parents, coaches and faith leaders, are also being turned off by the new military culture and are less likely to tell young people that military service is a good choice.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that every branch of the U.S. armed forces is struggling to meet its recruitment goals. And last year, an internal Defense Department survey found that only 9% of young Americans eligible to serve in the military now have any inclination to do so — the lowest figure in nearly two decades.

“Wokeness” is having other deleterious effects as well. It is harming military readiness, as the U.S. armed forces “define down” physical and other standards in order to promote equity. It has led to the creation of a diversity bureaucracy across the Defense Department that is expensive, wasteful, unnecessary and counterproductive.

And it has skewed promotions and rank as race, gender and sexual orientation categories have become more important than competence and achievement for military career advancement.

The next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whoever it might be, will need to grapple with these uncomfortable realities. And if he is serious about the current dangerous drift of the country’s military, he will need to roll back the divisive social policies that are diminishing support for the armed services among Americans.

• Herman Pirchner Jr. is president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington.