By Mike McDaniel, USAF veteran
It’s no secret that Barack Obama purged hundreds of officers from the military. These were not screw-ups, but warriors, patriots, men and women dedicated to their oaths and to protecting America.
Those purges were an opening salvo in the DEI war, a means to turn our military into a social laboratory, to equally warp our service academies to turn out a generation of woke ladder climbers, people who would betray America for career advancement and woke ideology.
And then, against unprecedented lawfare, vote fraud, and at least two assassination attempts, Donald Trump was elected and began to reverse those purges.
Among those removed from high positions was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Charles Brown. Brown, appointed to that position by Joe Biden’s handlers, was among the most woke and arguably race-oriented military leaders, absolutely the wrong man to help restore warrior culture to the military.
Most recently, President Trump removed Vice Admiral Shoshanna Chatfield from her post at NATO Headquarters.
As one might imagine, screams of outrage have come from within DEI military ranks, from Congress and from the left in general. She’s a woman! A decorated veteran! Trump unlawfully relieved her! He’s a fascist!
The media, of course, did not do due diligence, and have maintained the leftist narrative. Fortunately, the facts have emerged:
“According to the report, Vice Admiral Chatfield refused to display pictures of the President of the United States (POTUS) and the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) in the NATO Headquarters (HQ). This decision was perceived as a direct challenge to the authority of the current administration and raised questions about her loyalty and professionalism as a senior military officer.
In addition to this act of defiance, it was revealed that during an “all hands” meeting, Admiral Chatfield allegedly stated, “we will wait them out for four years,” implying a lack of support for the current administration and a belief that it would be temporary. Such comments have drawn sharp criticism and scrutiny, particularly given the sensitive nature of military leadership and the expectation of adherence to civilian authority.”
The media and other woke cheerleaders don’t want Americans to know about Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ):
888. ARTICLE 88. Contempt toward Officials
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Among the first things any officer candidate learns is Article 88.
They, and every service member, learns to obey orders, never to be insubordinate toward superiors, and that because our military is absolutely under civilian control, they are to be in deed and word, apolitical. A variety of other articles of the UCMJ cover those sorts of violations.
The POTUS is the Commander in Chief (CIC), and no service member, apart from between very close and trusted friends in private, should say or do anything disparaging toward him.
So it must be and had been until Obama sought to “fundamentally transform” our military.
We ended up with drag queens, trans, pronouns, and thousands of officers and lower ranks believing the UCMJ didn’t really apply to them when they attacked Normal Americans and an honorable military.
The military’s cancerous DEI culture had their backs.
Despite severe recruiting problems brought on by this new, deranged military culture, honorable warriors were forced out. Refusal to take a vaccine that wasn’t removed another 8,200, and even dependent children were sexually and politically indoctrinated in Defense Department schools.
So yes, Chatfield’s refusal to post photos of the POTUS and Secretary of Defense, overseas in NATO HQ(?!) was a direct challenge.
An even worse “challenge,” and a clear violation of Article 88 was Chatfield’s “all hands” announcement of her command’s intention to defy the lawful orders of the CIC.
How could Chatfield get away with such obvious betrayal of her oath and professional deportment? The military’s Judge Advocate Corps was also compromised by woke warriors.
Any CIC may assign and remove officers as they choose, a power not subject to restraint. Obviously, no CIC should remove competent officers for political or personal reasons.
However, in this case President Trump was elected to restore the military to its proper role. An officer refusing to post photos of the POTUS and SecDef in NATO HQ and telling her subordinates to subvert and disregard the orders of the CIC must be removed.
It would be a mistake for President Trump not to see her prosecuted for every article of the UCMJ she has arguably violated.
Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
First published on American Thinker
Leave a Comment