Matt Lohmeier was recently interviewed on the Veteran Biker show.
Watch:
Persecuted ex-Space Force commander calls for eliminating woke ideology from U.S. military
By Calvin Freiburger | LifeSite News
A longtime military commander ousted from the U.S. Space Force in 2021 for criticizing the spread of woke ideology in America’s armed forces is speaking out again, sharing the details of his experience with Fox News and calling for new leadership for the nation’s defenders.
Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, the former commander of the 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base, was fired in 2021 after self-publishing a book titled Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military.
In an interview at the time, he discussed the spread of critical race theory (CRT, the “view that the law and legal institutions are inherently racist and that race itself… is used by white people to further their economic and political interests at the expense of people of colour”) within the military through so-called “diversity and inclusion” programs.
In response, Space Operations Command head Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting relieved Lohmeier from his position over an alleged loss of confidence in his leadership ability and opened an investigation into whether Lohmeier’s comments qualified as “prohibited partisan political activity.”
“There was a whole string of events that did lead up to my being relieved of command,” the lieutenant colonel told Fox in a new interview published Friday. “The ultimate reason was because I was willing to be publicly critical of critical race theory, which I understood to be rooted in Marxist ideology… that I saw dividing the troops (…) I wasn’t advocating for Republicans over Democrats, and I’m conservative myself. But it didn’t matter to me. And it’s never mattered to our troops what someone else’s politics were.”
Since his firing, which came with the “gut punch” of losing his pension, Lohmeier has remained committed to exposing and uprooting the ideological priorities that have infected the military.
“You give your life and service to your country and the American people, and you’re not doing it for the pay,” he said. “You’re doing it because you become (convinced) of the greatness of the American ideal. And … senior leaders (then) say, ‘We want you out of the way because your view is not welcome here,’ even as they pretend to care about inclusivity, even as they pretend to care about diversity, (but) not diversity of thought.”
“We need to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion trainings from the military, from the service academies, and strip all vestiges of critical race theory out of the military workplace,” Lohmeier declared.
The steady rise of “woke” ideology within the military, which has persisted and grown since the Clinton years despite the presidencies of Republicans George W. Bush and Donald Trump, has been intensified by current President Joe Biden, who upon taking office quickly moved to open the military to recruits suffering from gender dysphoria in a reversal of Trump administration policy, then had Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin launch a review of supposed “domestic extremism” within the military that many saw as a pretext to purge conservative views from the ranks.
In March 2023, the Center for Military Readiness (CMR) published an update on the administration’s work to infuse the armed forces with left-wing gender ideology, ranging from enforcement of preferred pronouns to allowing cross-dressing and the use of opposite-sex showers and restrooms on military bases to making it harder to access information on the negative consequences of such policies.
Last November, the Pentagon requested an additional $114.7 million for diversity programs in the upcoming fiscal year, representing a total of $269.2 million in taxpayer dollars just on military diversity since Biden took office.
Until December 2022, Biden’s Pentagon leaders also enforced COVID-19 vaccine mandates on American service men and women, provoking lawsuits and threatening soldier and pilot shortages in the tens of thousands, which only added to broader problems of force strength, troop morale, and public confidence.
Such priorities have taken their toll. During a Pentagon press briefing in April 2022 on the Army’s budget for Fiscal Year 2023, Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo announced the Army had “proactively made a decision to temporarily reduce our end strength from 485,000 Soldiers to 476,000 in FY ’22, and 473,000 in FY ’23.” the Military Times reported at the time that this “could leave the service at its smallest size since 1940, when it had just over 269,000 troops.”
Gallup and Ronald Reagan Institute polls have both shown that the public has lost confidence in the military’s leaders, which presumably also has a significant effect on prospective soldiers’ willingness to sign up.
First published on LifeSite News
Some comments on the article:
“My husband (retired military) and I have read the book and highly recommend it. This is a brave man that put his life and career in jeopardy to speak out about the abuses occurring under this present Administration in our Military. We are a joke to the world and we will pay dearly for what is being allowed under this Administration.”
“A true leader. Reinstate this superb officer now.”
“I applaud this man’s courage. This is not the same country I grew up in. The lunatics are running the asylum. I pray for the young ones coming up behind me who will inherit this mess.”
Former Space Force Officer Says ‘Separate Chain Of Command’ Enforces ‘Divisive Ideology’ In Military Academy
By Harold Hutchinson | The Daily Caller
A former United States Space Force officer said Saturday morning that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is enforced by a “separate chain of command” at the Air Force Academy.
Former Space Force Lieutenant Colonel Matt Lohmeier, who was relieved of command after he spoke out against DEI initiatives in the military in 2021 and says he lost his pension, told guest host Joey Jones on “Fox and Friends Saturday” that the academy “has diversity and inclusion cadet officers” who “report to a separate chain of command.”
Jones had referred to an Arizona State University study that found service academies encourage reporting “private conversations that challenge DEI precepts,” asking Lohmeier if he had similar experiences. (RELATED: ‘Congress Has To Step In’: Judicial Watch Sounds Alarm On CRT At West Point)
“In fact, come to think of it, I did experience that. A fellow commander informed me that they’re aware of my kind of politics and that they’d be happy to turn me into the base commander if I continued to privately criticize our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,” he said. “But this problem has grown far beyond what I experienced, personally and professionally in the military workplace.”
“My own alma mater, the U.S. Air Force Academy, has diversity and inclusion cadet officers who wear a special insignia within their cadet squadrons, they wear purple braided rope over the shoulders and they report to a separate chain of command other than their military chain of command, relating to diversity and inclusion issues,” he continued. “It reminds one of Soviet political commissars that have been established both in the Soviet Union and in other Marxist revolutionary efforts throughout the last century.”
Lohmeier called DEI a “very dangerous, very divisive ideology” that is treated “like it is a protected religious worldview” that “others ought to step in line with and support in their words and actions, otherwise face consequences.”
The former commander spoke earlier in the segment about allegedly being fired over his concerns.
“Unfortunately for the American people and for all of the men and women in uniform, it’s been considered for a number of years now to be politically partisan to speak up against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,” Lohmeier told Jones. “And of course, anyone who looks into this matter knows it shouldn’t necessarily be considered a partisan issue. I wasn’t interested in being politically partisan while I wore the uniform of the country and was in command of a space force unit, but of course, senior military leaders, especially under the current administration, decided that because of the climate of fear that we had created for ourselves they ought to treat my criticism of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as partisan and, quote unquote, hold me accountable for speaking out against it.”
The Air Force Academy did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
CADET PROGRAM PROMOTES DIVERSITY, INCLUSION ACROSS ACADEMY CAMPUS (US Air Force Academy)
Former Space Force commander Matthew Lohmeier sounds alarm on the ‘very dangerous’ impact of DEI policy
Former Lt. Col. Space Force commander Matthew Lohmeier joins ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss how DEI in the military is potentially impacting military readiness.
TRANSCRIPT
Fox Host:
In the military has our next guest, a former Space Force commander, lieutenant colonel, up in arms after he says he was fired and lost his pension for speaking out after serving in the military for over a decade. Matt Lohmeier ripped DEI training for dividing troops, decreasing morale, and ultimately affecting military readiness, which prompted action against him. Executive Vice president of STARRS Matt Lohmeier joins us now.
Good morning. Lieutenant Colonel, thank you for joining us. We were just talking in the commercial break there–you weren’t just fired from your position. You were also pushed out of the Space Force altogether. You lost your career over this?
Matt Lohmeier:
Yeah. You know, unfortunately for the American people and for all of the men and women in uniform, it’s been considered for a number of years now to be politically partisan to speak up against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. And of course, anyone who’s looked into this matter knows it shouldn’t necessarily be considered a partisan issue. I wasn’t interested in being politically partisan while I wore the uniform of the country and was in command of a Space Force unit. But of course, senior military leaders, especially under the current administration, decided that because of the climate of fear that we had created for ourselves, they ought to treat my criticism of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as partisan and, quote unquote, hold me accountable for speaking out against it.
Fox Host:
Now, one thing on my fact sheet here that I found really interesting a study, I believe it was by Arizona State University. And basically they found that part of the policy is that you’re mandated or required or encouraged to tell on others if they have a negative opinion of DEI. Did you experience that?
Matt Lohmeier:
In fact, come to think of it, I did experience that. A fellow commander informed me, that they’re aware of my kind of politics and that they’d be happy to turn me into the base commander if I continued to privately criticize our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. But this problem has grown far beyond what I experienced personally and professionally in the military workplace.
That report that you’ve just mentioned from Arizona State University’s Center for American Institutions, specifically mentioned some of the things that are happening currently at our military service academies. My own alma mater, the U.S. Air Force Academy, has diversity and inclusion cadet officers who wear a special insignia within their cadet squadrons that were purple braided ropes over the shoulders. And they report to us a separate chain of command other than their military chain of command relating to diversity and inclusion issues. It reminds one of Soviet political commissars that have been established in both in the Soviet Union and other Marxist revolutionary efforts throughout the last century. So this is a very dangerous, very divisive ideology and we treat it any more like it’s a protected religious worldview, but not just protected, but one that others ought to step in line with and support in their words and actions otherwise face consequences.
Fox Host:
Lieutenant Colonel, you show courage by joining the military. You showed even more courage by sticking to your oath and standing up for things you believe are American and honest and true and detrimental to our readiness. I can’t thank you enough for your service. Real quick, want to read this: the U.S. Space Force has not returned our request for comment. So we have your perspective today, and we appreciate it. Lieutenant Colonel Matt Lohmeier, thank you for joining us.
Matt Lohmeier:
Thanks for having me.
Former Space Force commander speaks out again the CRT/DEI Agenda in the Military
By Hannah Grossman, Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi | Fox News
A former space commander is calling for a change of leadership after he was fired for allegedly criticizing the Marxist DEI complex, which he believes is now being accelerated under the Biden administration.
Former Lieutenant Colonel Matt Lohmeier was in the military for over a decade before he joined the U.S. Space Force in 2020, where he specialized in missile warning systems. But less than a year later, in May 2021, he was “betrayed,” he told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Lohmeier publicly spoke out against DEI training because he believed it was dividing the troops and decreasing morale, which affected military readiness. He believes “the DEI industry… is steeped in critical race theory, is rooted in anti-American, Marxist ideology.”
“The blow was severe,” he said about allegedly being fired for his dissenting views. “It makes you feel like you’ve been betrayed.”
He said it was a real “gut punch” when he lost his pension.
“You give your life and service to your country and the American people, and you’re not doing it for the pay. You’re doing it because you become [convinced] of the greatness of the American ideal. And… senior leaders [then] say, ‘We want you out of the way because your view is not welcome here,’ even as they pretend to care about inclusivity, even as they pretend to care about diversity, [but] not diversity of thought,” he said.
Lohmeier believed he didn’t violate existing policy because the issue he took aim at was anti-Americanism, not politics.
“There was a whole string of events that did lead up to to my being relieved of command,” he said. “The ultimate reason was because I was willing to be publicly critical of critical race theory, which I understood to be rooted in Marxist ideology… that I saw dividing the troops.”
“I wasn’t advocating for Republicans over Democrats, and I’m conservative myself. But it didn’t matter to me. And it’s never mattered to our troops what someone else’s politics were,” he said.
The former commander is now trying to expose what he calls the “Marxist” military complex from the outside.
A new study commissioned by the Arizona State University Center for American Institutions revealed that the Pentagon’s DEI programs encourage reporting private conversations on dissenting views of DEI and has been steadily increasing its resources. DEI engines in the military cost taxpayers $68 million in 2022, $86.5 million in 2023, with a proposed $114.7 million for 2024, according to the ASU report.
The report, compiled by military experts, recommends abolishing the left-wing DEI agenda and replacing it with merit-based selections and American values curricula at the academies.
“We need to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion trainings from the military, from the service academies, and strip all vestiges of critical race theory out of the military workplace,” Lohmeier said.
The Space Force did not respond to a request for comment.
Watch:
TRANSCRIPT
Matthew Lohmeier: “I’m willing to die on this hill and speak up about this and say, this is, an extremely dangerous territory that we’ve entered. And I weighed the cost in doing that, knowing that, well, I might get in trouble somehow. I’m Matt Lohmeier. I was formerly a Lt Colonel and commander in the newest branch of the military, the Space Force.
I was fired for publicly criticizing diversity, equity and inclusion trainings and critical race theory. I was in command of our nation’s space based missile warning architecture and mission. While I was in command at Buckley Space Force Base out in Colorado, I was relieved of my command in May 2021 on a Friday. And there was a whole string of events that did lead up to to my being relieved of command.
The ultimate reason was because I was willing to be publicly critical of critical race theory, which I understood to be rooted in Marxist ideology.
I was willing to speak up against, diversity, equity and inclusion policies that I saw dividing the troops.
I was not partisan. I wasn’t advocating for Republicans over Democrat, but it didn’t matter to me.
It’s never mattered to our troops what someone else’s politics were. It still doesn’t matter to most of our troops what someone else’s politics are.
But what does matter is that when ideology—that looks and feels awfully religious in nature—that is pressed upon all of our service members as if they ought to believe it, or else face some kind of retribution or punishment. When that begins to become the policy of the services, and it’s dividing the troops, people have to speak up about it at the risk of looking partisan, because it’s been framed as a partisan issue.
But in fact, this is not a partisan issue. It’s about the American ideas and ideals that shaped our country.
Republicans and Democrats or the apolitical, if they’re American, ought to embrace the values that made our country free, that made, us a just a nation and that made us have a merit-based military that made us the most lethal and ready military on the planet.
You start to see all of that stuff disintegrate when diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, so-called de-emphasize merit and strive by fiat to ensure, equality of outcomes and enforced equality of outcomes.
All of that destroys the morale of the military. It sets people at odds against one another and divides the troops. And it dis-incentivizes service. They hear evil things about their country or about one another.
In an all-volunteer force, you need people to be self-motivated for service, both to retain them and to recruit them.
So what we’re seeing at the moment in our recruiting and retention crisis is immediately the result of the things that we’re talking about, the diversity, equity and inclusion trainings, the social justice activism and the celebration of values that frankly, only resonate with a minority of our service members, regardless of their political views.
So I’m willing to die on this hill and speak up about this and say this is an extremely dangerous territory that we’ve entered. I weighed the cost in doing that, knowing that, well, I might get in trouble somehow. I might get paperwork, I might get a slap on the wrist. I might even be asked to step down from my command.
But the response of senior leaders was so swift, it surprised me, even having considered the potential consequences. They acted out of fear. They acted with haste before I’m sure they read anything I said in that book, which I stated was my own opinion and not the views of the Defense Department. And it wasn’t politically partisan. It’s about Marxist history and ideology.
The blow was severe and the way it makes you feel is like you’ve been betrayed.
I mean, you give your life and service to your country and the American people and and you’re not doing it for the pay. You’re doing it because by and by, you become convicted of the greatness of the American ideal.
And to have senior leaders say, we want you out of the way because your view is not welcome here, even as they pretend to care about inclusive inclusivity, even as they pretend to care about diversity. NOT diversity of thought, that that one thing is clear.
They don’t want a diversity of thought. What they’re interested in accomplishing you recognize at once that speaking up and trying to be courageous makes you incompatible with the current policy aims of the administration of the Defense Department.
I lost my retirement, or that I lost my pension. All of that happened so swiftly that it’s a gut punch for sure.
I’m really hoping—and I can say this now and I couldn’t then, and I’ll say it on behalf of plenty of our our troops: I’m really hoping that come this November, there is a resounding victory for some other candidate than who’s currently in the white House, because we need to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion trainings for the military from the service academies and strip all vestiges of critical race theory out of the military workplace.
We need to focus on our mission. We need to get back to the basics that make a military great and allow our people to be free of that burden culturally, politically, socially. They can then be united. They can then genuinely allow for the differences of viewpoint, the differences of background and so forth.
They really don’t care about someone else’s views about any number of things and don’t want to hear them in the workplace. They just want to focus on the same mission together.
When we can get back to that, that same sucker punch, gut check that I had at the time I was fired, that troops are still feeling day in and day out and reeling from, quite frankly, because of these things that can be eliminated from their work life.
I think we’ll retain a lot more of our service members and we’re going to begin to recruit the right talent into the services once again and meet our recruiting goals.
New Study Details ‘Vast DEI Bureaucracy’ in Pentagon, Service Academies
Matthew Lohmeier served on the National Commission on Civic Education in the Military. He and his fellow commissioners conducted a year-long evaluation of the history, evolution, and implementation of diversity and equity programs across all branches of the military and military academies. Here are their findings:
(Press Release) A year-long examination of DEI training in the military identifies millions of wasted taxpayer dollars are being spent to create a culture of “race and sex-based scapegoating and stereotyping.”
The report calls for an immediate end to the Pentagon’s multimillion-dollar DEI bureaucracy.
“Our research reviewed DEI policy in the military starting in the nineteen seventies to the modern day and concluded there are far more effective ways to promote unity and respect among military ranks than by spending millions annually to divide servicemembers by their gender or race,” said Prof. Donald Critchlow, Director of the Center for American Institutions at Arizona State University.
“Just as private companies have abandoned the toxic advice of DEI consultants and programs, military leaders should end social engineering based on critical race theory and restore approaches that promote character and merit.”
“It’s no surprise that young people are turning away from military service in record numbers. As this comprehensive report illuminates, DEI indoctrination has become a core component of military training that begins for officers even at the service academies,” said Matt Lohmeier, the former Space Force commander who was fired for his criticism of DEI policies.
“How can we be prepared to confront our adversaries if our warfighters aren’t laser focused on the mission but instead are divided and distracted by ideology?”
Highlights:
• “Eyes and ears” programs that encourage those trained and appointed to report overheard private conversations that challenge DEI precepts are common.
• An Air Force email claiming that personal pronouns are key to retention: “One way to foster a culture of inclusion is to add personal pronouns to email signature blocks. While this may not seem like a big deal, it can influence whether someone will stay in their organization.”
• Spending on DEI programming is increasing. The DOD’s allocation for DEI projects jumped from$68 million in fiscal year 2022 to $86.5 million in fiscal year 2023. The Pentagon is requesting
$114.7 million for fiscal year 2024.
• A 2023 incident at the U.S. Air Force Academy where the former head of the history department implored the academy’s board to return to civic-minded education. His plea was ignored. As the report sums up the episode: “Knowledge of the nation that cadets defend is elective. DEI is the core.”
About the Report
The National Commission on Civic Education in the Military made up of Commissioners Matt Lohmeier, Karrin Taylor Robson, and John Cauthen, worked with a team of ASU researchers to conduct a year-long evaluation of the history, evolution, and implementation of diversity and equity programs across all branches of the military and military academies.
The report is titled Civic Education in the Military: Are Servicemembers More Prepared for Micro-Aggression or Macro-Aggression? It is available here: https://cai.asu.edu/civiceducation
The report makes a series of straightforward recommendations:
• Immediately end the DEI bureaucracy or pursue alternative avenues to affect positive change despite existing policies.
• Return to the military’s outstanding tradition of merit-based selections and promotions and non-discriminatory equal opportunity.
• Make the syllabi for all humanities and social sciences courses taught at our military service academies publicly available.
• Provide educational training materials to enhance personnel understanding of American philosophy, politics, government, and the Constitution.
About The Center for American Institutions
The ASU Center for American Institutions was founded in October 2022 with a single nonpartisan purpose: Preserving and renewing our fundamental American institutions to maintain well-ordered liberty in an exceptional nation through the fostering and renewal of foundational American institutions including civic, religious, legal, financial, political, military and family.
Read the report online: https://issuu.com/rbarwick/docs/civic_education_in_the_military
Download PDF: CAI Civic Education in the Military Report
EXECUTIVE INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Armed Forces Should Not Be a Laboratory for Social Experimentation.
The sole purpose of the U.S. Armed Forces is to defend the nation against its external enemies. The service academies train officers committed to fulfilling this mission.
This mission—defense of the nation—makes the U.S. Armed Forces arguably the most important institution in the United States. Without a nation, other institutions are meaningless because they would not exist.
Given its importance, the U.S. Armed Forces should not be a laboratory for social experimentation, especially one based on Critical Race Theory, a contentious and abstract social theory.
Yet, as this Commission Report on Civic Education in the Military shows in great detail, Critical Race Theory is promoted within Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training throughout the military from the Pentagon through the ranks and in our service academies.
Critical Race Theory is based on an assumption that no matter what progress is made on ensuring equal rights for minorities, “white privilege” and “sub-conscious” racism continues to prevail among whites, no matter their professed support for diversity and inclusion in their workplace, community, or immediate and extended families.
Critical Race Theory assumes that racism is systemic from the very founding of the United States and that the U.S. Constitution was drafted to ensure the white privilege of slaveholders.
Whatever the appearance of progress—constitutional amendments and legislation to protect equal rights for racial minorities—is a façade that still preserves white privilege.
Critical Race Theory is based on assumptions, not empirically derived evidence, and is by nature divisive. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, which rely on Critical Race Theory, should not be seen as workplace sensitivity training.
The Commission on Civic Education in the Military began as a project to review civic education in the military.
Our research team did not expect to find Critical Race Theory so embedded and pervasive. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs are found throughout the U.S. Armed Forces and our service academies.
This year long study documents just how pervasive these training programs are in our Armed Forces and Service Academies and that DEI extends well beyond just formal training programs in the military and service academies.
The Founders of our nation understood and feared a politicized military. History had shown them that a politicized army easily became the tool of tyranny.
The Armed Forces of the United States has proudly upheld this long tradition of separating mission from politics.
The commissioners for this project believe that military training for service men and women in all ranks needs to inculcate and reinforce pride in our nation, pride in service, and in our country’s motto, E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many One).
Donald T. Critchlow
Director, Center for American Institutions
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The National Commission on Civic Education in the Military finds that cadets and midshipmen at our military service academies are receiving extensive training in so-called civic education about racism, sexism, unconscious bias, and intersectionality that subverts our ideals.
Furthermore, soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen across all branches of the military are occasionally subject to similar trainings across the military at all organizational levels.
These trainings rely heavily on the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and are provided with the express goals of fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, and of rooting out alleged white supremacy in the military. Training is implemented by a vast DEI bureaucracy that extends from senior leaders at the Pentagon to the lowest ranks.
This year-long research project examining online and published materials available to the public, yet hidden from the unobservant bystander, is divided into three main parts.
The first section provides the background of DEI training beginning in the 1970s through mandated executive orders in the 2010s and 2020s. This background is important to understand the changing nature of DEI training in the military and the issues raised by today’s training.
The second and third sections—DEI training in the services and at the three major service academies, respectively—reveal how extensive, divisive, and damaging this training is for those serving in our military.
The research reveals serious problems within our military complex. The U.S. military now has a well-developed, taxpayer-funded DEI bureaucracy dedicated to rooting out “white privilege” and white supremacy, and that allows for (and sometimes teaches) the overt criticism of the United States, its founding, its founders, and its founding documents, alleging that they are all rooted in systemic racism.
This bureaucracy, with its accompanying trainings, is supported and implemented by Pentagon leadership. Trainings presented across all branches of the military and at our service academies not only include concepts but also encourage behavior that is prescribed by CRT without presenting alternative perspectives. Military leadership regularly asserts that DEI training is essential to building strong teams; how it does that is left unexplained, and no data are presented corroborating such claims.
Our vibrant religious, economic, and political history, with all its nuance, is simply glossed over or criticized, and little or no training is offered as a means of helping servicemembers, cadets, and midshipmen understand and appreciate America’s founding philosophy or the Constitution servicemembers swear an oath to uphold and defend.
The commission posits the following:
• An effective military and healthy citizenry need to share and understand a common story as to the unique creation of the American Republic. A common story is necessary for unit cohesion, morale, and an effective fighting force. DEI carries inherently negative messages about Western civilization generally, and about the United States and its people specifically.
• As demonstrated in numerous surveys and reports, public K-12 educations fail woefully in teaching even the basics of American politics, government, and the Constitution. We cannot assume that recruits, servicemembers, new cadets, and midshipmen know the basics about the country they will defend. As one leader put it, “We don’t do a good job of teaching civics in school anymore; the military has to make up for that deficiency in its own training.”
• A sole focus on identity-related themes produces divisiveness within our military rather than vital unity. This is not to argue that identity themes should be necessarily excluded in civic education, but those training and providing professional military education to our men and women in uniform should be required to teach American civic values to help them understand the unique nature of our constitutional republic.
• The massive DEI bureaucracy, its training and its pseudo-scientific assessments are at best distractions that absorb valuable time and resources. At worst they communicate the opposite of the military ethos: e.g. that individual demographic differences come before team and mission.
Central Findings:
• DEI themes dominate the training and education that members of the armed forces receive about their country. As “white supremacy” and racism have become a central focus of DEI trainings, white supremacist racism is assumed to be the core problem of the nation and of the military; positive messaging about the country and its values disappears with the shift in focus. Servicemembers are asked to defend a nation that is an alleged cesspit of racism and discrimination.
• The defense of dividing servicemembers into racial, gender, and sexual identities is Orwellian. Rather than emphasizing that the strength of our military is a product of its unity and steadfast dedication to the American ideals of individual liberty and freedom, it is instead asserted that diversity (our differences) is our strength. Emphasizing differences and grievances sows distrust and undermines unit cohesion and teamwork.
• Traditionally, young people enlisted for many reasons, with a major one being patriotism — to protect the family, country, and faith. That patriotism, if held by a white male, now raises suspicions of white supremacy.
• The DEI bureaucracy extending from the Department of Defense (DOD) through the services and in the service academies is extensive and entrenched. Dating from the 1970s, its reach continues to grow and even extends to those leaving the service.
• Efforts to root out white supremacy involve not only training but appointing service members to act as the “eyes and ears” of the bureaucracy to turn in suspects. Suspicion replaces trust, understanding, and teamwork.
• DEI training focuses on rooting out “white supremacy” even though there is little or no evidence that there is a problem of white supremacy in the military. The massive hunt during the stand-down in 2020 located roughly 100 out of a force of 2.1 million. The ongoing search, implemented by Secretary Lloyd Austin in December of 2021, has turned up equally small numbers of extremists of any variety. The most recent study released by the Department of Defense, the “Study on Extremist Activity within the Total Force” offered little new data and could only conclude that “extremism in the military is rare but dangerous.”
Recommendations
Historically, military veterans were held up as ideal democratic citizens. The internalized values of duty, honor, and country that military service imparted along with teamwork, leadership, working with diverse groups, and problem solving made veterans the glue of their communities.
Military veterans, more often than non-veterans, volunteered and engaged in solving community problems. They carried the positive aspects of an inclusive warrior ethos into their communities.
The surest way to eliminate the concerning trends we have identified, and the growth of race- and sex-based scapegoating and stereotyping in the U.S. military, is to altogether end the DEI bureaucracy there.
However, until such a time as the executive or legislative branches of the government choose to end the DEI bureaucracy in our federal agencies and military, we are left to advocate the pursuit of alternative avenues that may affect positive change despite existing policies.
Therefore, to address the shortfalls noted above, the Commission makes several recommendations that are aimed at restoring the warrior ethos in our military, fostering a climate of genuine unity and strength, and helping servicemembers understand and believe in American civic values and the uniqueness of our Constitutional Republic.
• We join the members of Congress, the Heritage Foundation, and other organizations in calling for a return to the military’s outstanding tradition of merit-based selections and promotions, and non-discriminatory equal opportunity.
• We recommend that all syllabi that are taught in the humanities and social sciences at our military service academies be made publicly available. The public has the right to know, and to challenge, the extent to which fashionable or ideologically based academic theories – Critical Race Theory, Gender Studies, Postcolonial Studies, etc. – shape the education of cadets and midshipmen at our military academies. These cadets and midshipmen will be commissioned as officers and are the future leaders of the United States military’s respective service branches.
• We support the inclusion of civic education – America’s commitment to freedom and opportunity – in military training. We recommend that the U.S. military provide educational training materials to its personnel that aim at enhancing servicemembers’ understanding of foundational American philosophy and values, the basics of American politics and government, the Constitution, and their oath to support and defend the Constitution. These formal training materials should be provided to personnel at our military service academies, in officer and noncommissioned officer (NCO) professional military education and training courses, and on a periodic and recurring basis on Department of Defense (DOD) installations, just as DEI trainings are offered at those places on a periodic and recurring basis
Read the report online: https://issuu.com/rbarwick/docs/civic_education_in_the_military
Download PDF: CAI Civic Education in the Military Report
Lt Col Lohmeier: Speak the Truth, Exhibit Courage
Matthew Lohmeier, former USAF/USSF Lt. Colonel and 2006 USAFA grad, has powerful words about the actions of US leaders have made a statement to the world that we’re not a serious nation, what real freedom-loving leaders would do, and the need for current military service members to speak the truth, stand on principles and values and exhibit courage. Censorship and self-censorship are harbingers of societal failure.
He was interviewed on Fox News by Pete Hegseth. Watch:
Announcement from Matt and Documentary Update
Matthew Lohmeier is pleased to announce that he has accepted the position of Executive Vice President of STARRS, an organization of veterans and patriotic citizens standing against the CRT/DEI/Woke agenda being pushed on service members in the military and academies. Their goal is to eliminate this radical ideology from the military and return to merit and warfighting readiness.
He will begin work with STARRS on 1 July 2024.
With this new position, Matt will continue to speak out and be a cultural thought leader against the proliferation of Marxist-rooted Critical Race Theory in the military and its divisive impact on the force and mission. Venues he will do this will be special events, conferences, meetings, gatherings, rallies, media/podcast appearances and interviews, Congressional hearings and meetings and more.
Matt is a powerful speaker on these issues, and as this is such a critical year, we need to make sure everyone understands what is at stake regarding our nation’s military. If you know of a venue that needs to hear from Matt, let us know.
Also, go to the STARRS.US website and sign up for their mailing list. The website tracks, monitors and exposes the CRT/DEI/Woke agenda in the military.
Matt’s own website will continue as normal.
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Documentary Update
The production company Root/Cause has wrapped up filming for the new documentary (currently titled “Against All Enemies”) that chronicles both Matt’s personal journey and the fight he and STARRS are currently engaged in to counter the forces of a dangerous ideology attacking and undermining our most trusted and important public institution—our military.
It is based on his book, Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military. This much-anticipated documentary is now in the editing phase and will be released this Fall.
You can watch the documentary intro video here:
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The Cultural War Campaign
STARRS has begun a fundraising campaign–which Matt is supporting–with a goal of raising an initial $300K to, among many things, promote the release of the documentary so as many people watch and learn from it; produce additional short-form videos (including powerful full interviews from the documentary) to expose the problems we face and educate Americans on what can be done to save our Republic; and bring STARRS to the next level in their effectiveness towards eliminating the CRT/DEI agenda from the military, returning to merit.
If you are inclined to want to be a part of this effort and help, please go to the Cultural War Campaign page or click on this donate button:
Donate button’s on Matt’s website will now go to the STARRS donation form.
You can also mail a check to: STARRS, P.O. Box 468, Monument, CO 80132. STARRS can also provide wire transfer details for bank-to-bank transactions.
STARRS is a 501c3 so your donations are tax-deductible.
If you have questions or would you like STARRS to contact you to talk more about your donation for this campaign, please send an email to [email protected].
Matt on Fox Nation “The War on Warriors”
Matt Lohmeier was on a panel talking about the War on Warriors with Pete Hegseth, Congressman Mike Waltz and others.
It’s available to watch here on Fox Nation (subscription required)
A revolutionary campaign that no longer hides its aims
By Lt Col Matthew Lohmeier, former USSF /USAF, USAFA ’06
via Twitter
THERE IS AN ONGOING WAR being waged by domestic enemies against the United States military that is far more destructive than any threat we are facing from our foreign adversaries!
Military senior leaders are ceaselessly waging a politically and culturally subversive campaign against our men and women in uniform.
There is no doubt that men and women of character will continue to lose their motivation to serve and will leave the service.
And there is no end in sight to our recruiting troubles. Senior leaders and decisionmakers who pretend to care about solving our recruiting and retention problems without first abandoning this activist agenda are only fooling themselves.
The memorandum below, which was just signed on 13 May 2024, admonishes servicemembers to celebrate and honor the lifestyle and contributions of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and queers.
You may think this is nothing new, but the energy and directness of the agenda is only growing stronger each month, and the activists who wage the campaign are more brazen than ever.
False spirits who thrive on division and destruction seem to animate our every move.
The memorandum honors “the strength” and “progress” that “activists” have brought to the force.
The memorandum “empowers commanders” to “organize” activities for their bases.
It is a revolutionary campaign that no longer needs to hide its aims. It employs all of the right revolutionary language.
It is Marxist-rooted DEI at its best. It is evil.
If you are in uniform, now is the time for you to speak up against this agenda as if the life of your country depends on it, because it does.
If you are a military leader and you understand firsthand the deleterious influence of this leftist activism perpetrated by our Defense Department, then speak up now or accept that you are a damned coward and accomplice.
Feigned kindness in the face of evil is only foolishness.
Tolerance of this revolutionary spirit at this critical hour is little short of treasonous.
Cowardice is the opposite of faith and love.
🚨THERE IS AN ONGOING WAR being waged by domestic enemies against the United States military that is far more destructive than any threat we are facing from our foreign adversaries!
Military senior leaders are ceaselessly waging a politically and culturally subversive campaign… pic.twitter.com/uz4TAgNjIL
— Matt Lohmeier 🇺🇸 (@matthewlohmeier) May 15, 2024
While at @7thForces, I had a transgender superior officer (a Green Beret) who was a biological male identifying as a female. To avoid violating my conscience, but to avoid adverse action, I referred to him by rank & last name.
Altho I survived this (tho I would later suffer for… https://t.co/Fn5GLbrv4Q
— John Frankman (@johny_franks) May 16, 2024
“While at @7thForces, I had a transgender superior officer (a Green Beret) who was a biological male identifying as a female. To avoid violating my conscience, but to avoid adverse action, I referred to him by rank & last name.
Altho I survived this (tho I would later suffer for refusing the COVID VAX) it is becoming harder & harder for service members to avoid affirming woke ideology without facing punishment, all while these policies are destroying the lethality & readiness of the force.
I urge all service members to follow their consciences, to do the right thing no matter what, & to resist this woke nonsense. We took an oath to support & defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign & domestic, & were prepared to offer our lives to do so.
Make no mistake, this false doctrine is a domestic threat & greater than any external threat we currently face.”
DEI ideology creating havoc in universities and the military
We are witnessing the divisive effects of the DEI agenda that is creating havoc at universities and colleges as well as in the military, says Matt Lohmeier.
“Securing America” show hosted by Frank Gaffney on Real America’s Voice network interviewed STARRS Chairman Lt. General Rod Bishop (USAF ret), who then introduced Lt Col Matt Lohmeier, formerly with the US Space Force, US Air Force and 2006 Air Force Academy graduate. He is a member of the STARRS Board of Advisors.
Watch:
Transcript
Frank Gaffney
Welcome to Securing America with me, Frank Gaffney. The program is a owners manual for protecting the country we love against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to the glory of God and His Kingdom. We have a very special show. I think if Ed Sullivan were still with us, he would call it a “Really Big Shew”, and it is going to be all of that because we have five extraordinarily impressive people who are going to be contributing to each of our segments.
We have a co-host who is a Lieutenant General, United States Air Force, retired. All of them have served in uniform. All of them are still in the fight, I’m very proud to say, in particular, trying to speak on behalf of men and women they served with and who are still in uniform, whose voices are generally not heard on matters of public policy, even those that are making a horrifically serious, indeed dangerous impact on the readiness the morale, the fighting trim, and the deterrent capability of our military. We actually have a still- serving member of the armed forces. We’ll be introducing her in a moment, but the rest are retired. We’re going to start with my co-host for this program, Lieutenant General Rod Bishop, United States Air Force, retired.
He is a man who, in his day, commanded the Third US Air Force, as well as was the Air Commander for Europe. Got a very formidable pedigree, and I want to thank him, especially for the work that he’s done post his time in uniform. Launching STARRS, which stands for Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services. It has helped spawn a new coalition, which he’s going to tell us about. I’m proud to be part of it and delighted to showcase it here on Securing America. General, we’re delighted to have you with us, sir. Over to you.
LTG Rod Bishop
Hey, Frank. Thanks so much for having us on and for hosting this and helping us organize it. I think one of the things I’m most proud of today, you mentioned this coalition. That coalition in less than a week is at 19 organizations from around our country who understand exactly what you just said, the harmful effects that this poisonous ideology that is infecting our military is happening.
I’m happy to have five In fact, all six of us, including you, are members of that coalition. All six, oh, by the way, are either members of our Board of Advisors at STARRS or a Board of Directors, except for Bibi, and I’m on her board. Our first guest, to cut to the chase….
Frank Gaffney
It’s close enough for government work, as they say. Before you do, sir, I do want you to mention the name of the new coalition.
LTG Rod Bishop
The new coalition is the Military Readiness and Merit Coalition. Again, 19 organizations, 10 of us had hoped to be at a meeting today at the DACODAI, the Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. But the door was shut on us on Monday for attending in person. That meeting is going on right now. We filled up the room electronically. Nobody else can get in. So hopefully, the message is getting through.
So to our first guest, Frank, I’d like to introduce someone most of the audience probably already knows. That’s Matt Lohmeier. His biography–he’s too humble in it–he was the number one of 700 plus majors in US Space Force. That’s the talent that we are losing because Matt was fired from his command when he wrote a book called “Irresistible Revolution: A Marxist Goal of Conquest and the Unmaking of the American Military”. There’s nobody that knows more about this. He studied it for two years back to back at Air and War College and the School of Advanced Air and Space Sciences. Matt, yours is the only book I’ve ever read twice, I think, in my life. So over to you, sir.
LTC Matt Lohmeier
General Bishop, thanks for the introduction. Because it cut out just briefly when I was listening to you, I’m going to restate the title of book, “Irresistible Revolution”.
I want to change gears from my own past career to something I’ve experienced just this week that’s of interest and relevant to the things that we’re talking about today with the destruction, deliberate destruction I think, of merit, meritocracy and its impact on readiness.
Just this week, literally this week, for two different events, I’ve have been either uninvited or the event has been canceled as a consequence of viewpoint discrimination, in my view. One was the before mentioned DACODAI meeting that the Pentagon had invited folks out to attend, and the other was an event at a college campus.
I was invited as a guest speaker at University of San Diego this week. Incidentally, I was supposed to be speaking there right now, and funding was approved to bring me out. A group of College Republicans had invited me out. There’s a very small group of bullies on the campus who get to decide whether or not to trump decisions about what guest speakers come out. I was found in violation of their transgender and queer hate speech policies, which is totally bogus. And of course, they’re not obligated to provide any specific example as to why I’ve been uninvited.
But we’ve seen now as Americans, and the reason I bring it up, we’ve seen now as Americans the failure, collapse that comes as a consequence of ideology permeating the university campuses.
It’s been in the headlines for a week, and now we’re facing and have been, and some of us have been shouting about it for a couple of years now, the same indoctrination and ideology that for decades has infiltrated and subverted the university campuses.
It’s wreaking havoc in the military, whether or not people yet aware of the destructive influence that it is.
What I want to say up front is that this censorship, a deliberate silencing of a large majority of people in this country who love their country, is a harbinger of societal failure. It’s a harbinger of military failure and weakness.
I think that the problem with censorship as a whole in a free society is that it impoverishes the intellect of society and stifles a material substantive view of a large portion of the population so that decision makers, and I’ll speak specifically of the Defense Department now.
Decision-makers are left making foolish errors and foolish decisions based on foolish opinions of a relatively small group, foolish ideas of a relatively small group of people. We see it time and time again. This group is well aware of that, and that’s what we’re trying to wake up Americans to.
Frank Gaffney
Matt, could I just ask you, the question of ideology, you’ve literally written the book on Marxism inside our military. Is there any doubt in your mind that the diversity, equity, inclusion, the critical race theory, the identity, the pronouns, all of this stuff, is in fact part of a cultural Marxist attack on our armed forces?
You mentioned it’s wreaking havoc in the military. Is it diminishing its readiness? Is it endangering its deterrent capabilities as well as warfighting? Should it come to that?
LTC Matt Lohmeier
There is no doubt in my mind that, first off, critical race theory is rooted in Marxism, and therefore, the entirety of the diversity, equity, and inclusion industry and complex has an ideological bent that favors Marxism, that attacks America and its founding, and those with, at the moment, conservative values, regardless of the race, by the way.
I want to share a story with you just briefly. It’s that while I was in command, and this is several years ago, when I had begun to suspect the divisive impact and then began to witness it firsthand of the diversity and inclusion trainings that were being offered to our military service members, I had a married couple in my unit who were black, and the wife was believing the trainings, buying into them, and beginning to have resentment not only for her unit, her fellow unit members, and for the United States, and for the uniform that she wore, but for her own husband, who was skeptical of the trainings, who thought that they ran contrary to everything he had been trained to think and believe in the United States military.
So I saw division within a single home, to say nothing of the impacts on a unit or a broader society.
Frank Gaffney
General Bishop, we got to wrap with Matt Lohmier. Thank you for this incredibly important set of insights about both what you’re seeing in the larger society as well as, of course, inside the military and for identifying the toxic brew that is Marxism. We’ll be right back with more. Stay tuned, folks.
Testimony by Lt Col Matthew Lohmeier
Testimony from member of the Military Readiness and Merit Coalition, former Space Force Lt. Colonel Matthew Lohmeier (USAFA ’06). He had made flight and hotel reservations to travel from a Western state to attend the May 2024 DACODAI meeting in Arlington, VA until DACODAI canceled the public from attending in-person. Watch:
Transcript
General, thanks for the introduction and Frank for hosting this important forum. I thought I’d share just a couple of stories.
I spent over 15 years on active duty and loved my time in uniform. One of the reasons that our service members love serving in uniform is both the ideas and ideals that shaped our country, which they grow to love and believe in and are willing to put their neck on the line to support defend, which is our Constitution, but also because of the men and women they serve with in uniform.
There’s a unity that knits together the hearts of those that serve in uniform. It doesn’t matter their race or their economic background, or perhaps, whether their families had served in generations past or not, or whether they’re the first generation.
That unity, which has been the strength and enjoyment of the United States military, is being eroded rapidly because of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
I was glad to see, by the way, the number of participants currently joining the show which hasn’t been capped at 100 online. Participants like the Defense Department’s current morning meetings has been.
There was a group of us who were supposed to be attending in person, the Defense Advisory Committee on DEI meeting this morning in Washington, DC, that was turned off last minute.
They didn’t want in-person attendance, and I think, frankly, they are interested in censoring the views of those who don’t agree with them.
That’s the second time in one week where I’ve been uninvited to an event that I had previously been invited to because of what I consider to be viewpoint discrimination.
One was at the University of San Diego earlier this week where a group of bullies turned off an event. We’ve seen what’s happening at university campuses around the country, and the other was at the Defense Department.
I’m reflecting on and have often since January, something that was said to me in a congressional hearing earlier this year. In January, the House Oversight Committee had invited me to testify in one of its subcommittees about the influence of woke ideology on our military.
I showed up with a few others and testified on a panel. One of the things that I said in my opening statement in that hearing was that there’s a culture war underway, that it has Marxist roots and that it was destroying the fabric of the United States military.
There was disagreement with that view from certain members of the subcommittee, specifically, it was very partisan room. Of course, the Democrats in the room disagreed with that. But the minority member in the room who sat next to Chairman Grothman up there chairing the committee is Robert Garcia from California.
Robert Garcia told me that it was nonsense. He said it in the hearing, that there was not any such thing as a culture war underway.
The point I want to make about it was that at the very end of that 2 hours when the ranking member, Glenn Grothman, had an opportunity to make his closing remarks, and then the minority leader, Robert Garcia, made his closing remarks.
Rep. Garcia made it a point to inform me in front of the group assembled that I was fighting a vain cause and that we, meaning conservatives, had already lost the war.
So on the one hand, you’ve got members of Congress who assert that there is no culture war and that to assert there’s a Marxist culture war is just a talking point of the alt right, is what Rip Garcia said, which is totally false.
Then at the end to assert that the conservatives have already lost the war, as if he was proud to announce that they’re making great progress legislatively and otherwise in accordance with certain very specific ideological aims.
Censorship that we’re experiencing at the moment is, and I’m going to close with this point here and allow for perhaps a brief moment for a question before moving on to the other panelists.
But as I take years now to reflect on the danger of the censorship that is incident to, or I should say maybe coincident with the diversity and inclusion initiatives of the United States military,
I think it is a harbinger of the military’s failure, it’s a harbinger of societal failure when you’re censoring one point of view and unwilling to hear it and are trying to shut it down.
It’s particularly problematic because it impoverishes the intellect of a society by not allowing all of the material, substantive voices and knowledge to be brought to bear in the decision-making process.
We’ve seen for a couple of years now, several years, our Defense Department struggling and making foolish decisions because they’re only allowing for and entertaining a particular worldview and viewpoint which is rooted in Marxist ideology, whether they do so wittingly or not.
That’s, of course, open for debate for many of them. But for some of them, they’re true believers in a very particular political agenda.
I’m very concerned about it. I’m constantly trying to warn the American people and our service members who are, they’re now, of course, waking up to this, that this is the undoing of the United States military unless we reverse course rapidly.
That’s what people like this on this call and on this panel are trying to do in their various organizations, and of course, all in conjunction with STARRS as well.
We have to reverse course, which is a form of repentance.
We have to turn back to the ideas and ideals that shape this country.
And in the military, that specifically means valuing merit and merit based readiness.
Thanks, Frank. Over to you and General Bishop.
Matt Lohmeier on Bitcoin Veterans podcast
I was happy to spend time with @BitcoinVeterans for this interview. I don’t usually come away from an interview with a genuine interest in learning some new thing. But these guys planted the Bitcoin bug and I’ve not shaken it since.
Watch:
Also watch on X:
032. Matthew Lohmeier https://t.co/5OZRgJpmtJ
— Bitcoin Veterans (@BitcoinVeterans) February 15, 2024
“If I were in charge there’d be a future without pedophiles” – LTC Matthew Lohmeier
Wish we had more leaders like @matthewlohmeier
Check it out!!https://t.co/D9f6aFIktB pic.twitter.com/mCwpDvYo1R
— Bitcoin Veterans (@BitcoinVeterans) February 16, 2024
The Military’s Woke Agenda Is Terrifying
In this “Chicks on the Right” episode, The Chicks are joined by special guest Matt Lohmeier, a former lieutenant colonel commander in the Space Force.
Lohmeier shares his story of being released from command after speaking out against the politicization of the military.
He discusses the rise of Marxist critical race theory and the negative impact it has on military readiness.
Lohmeier explains how he was fired for writing a book that called for greater accountability and the elimination of partisanship in the military workplace.
Despite the challenges he faced, Lohmeier remains committed to speaking the truth and raising awareness about the dangers of wokeism in the military.
FLAT EARTH DEBATE: Jeran Campanella vs Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier
In this episode of “Prime Time with Alex Stein,” we have a debate for the ages: Is the Earth flat?
Famous flat-earther Jeran Campanella, aka @jeranism, returns to the show to defend his beliefs against former Space Force Commander Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier.
Will Jeran finally be convinced that the Earth is a globe? Or will this space commander shock the world and admit that the earth is flat?
Don’t miss this episode of “Prime Time with Alex Stein”!
Warnings from Capitol Hill about the national security threat posed by Russia
Matt Lohmeier was on Rich Valdés America at Night Podcast to talk about the recent warnings from Capitol Hill about the national security threat posed by Russia.
Matt’s interview starts around the 40 minute mark:
