STARRS sent a letter to the President and CEO of USAA because of concerns surrounding USAA’s position regarding DEI:
June 29, 2023
Wayne Peacock
President and CEO, USAA
9800 Fredericksburg Rd.
San Antonio, TX 78288
Dear Mr. Peacock:
The purpose of this letter is to make you aware of grave concerns we have about USAA’s position regarding DEI, and to strongly encourage you to stop supporting its underlying divisive ideology.
Thousands of veterans who comprise your customer base would take umbrage if they were aware that the banking/Insurance organization to which they have been so loyal were supporting a cause that they consider antithetical to team unity and traditional moral values.
The undersigned represent the leadership of STARRS. We are a volunteer 501c3 organization composed of retired senior military officers and patriotic civilians. We have over 3000 followers. Please see our website for our vision, mission, and other instructive information at STARRS.US.
We have had two main strategic goals.
One is to educate why DoD’s mandatory vaccination policy should be eliminated (because it was illegal), and we played a key role in that happening.
Our second goal is to educate the public, including members of Congress, on the divisive aspects of DEI within the DoD.
Moreover, 180 retired generals and admirals have sent a letter addressed to the House leadership specifying their grave concerns about the toxic effects of DEI on military readiness and the warrior ethos. Please see: 180 Retired Generals and Admirals Request Congress Remove Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Funding from DoD
Added to the letter above, which describes the serious dangers DEI presents to DoD readiness, the Heritage Foundation conducted a 5-month study on this topic, and we invite you to review the results at: Report of the National Independent Panel on Military Service and Readiness
What is wrong with DEI?
The answer is provided in the above links, which we implore you to read, but in simple terms DEI is a subtle poison that quietly, but quickly, destroys the organs of society along with the heart and soul of our military—the warrior ethos.
DEI is a spin-off of Critical Race Theory (CRT)—it’s roots, history, lineage, and intent are all grounded in Marxism. It divides people into identity groups, often along racial lines, pitting them against each other—the oppressed vs the oppressors.
Such a divisive ideology is antithetical to our military culture, which is based on “unity” not “division.”
Our military must have total confidence in each other for their very lives from the foxhole to the top of the chain.
DEI destroys that trust and confidence by focusing on identity groups vs “one team, one fight.”
How does this involve USAA?
Two ways: First, we were shocked to see photos at the U.S. Air Force Academy (AFA) library introducing a D&I Reading Room where dozens of leftist/Marxist books and documents are displayed and supported, in part, by USAA.
Translation: USAA is supporting the indoctrination of AFA cadets into DEI, which is a Marxist based ideology.
It is bad enough to have the AFA supporting DEI but seeing USAA helping to fund it in the library generated this letter. See additional photos (taken last week) here: Inside the DEI Reading Room at the Air Force Academy
Second, your USAA website has a slide dedicated to supporting DEI (attached).
Two problems: One, DEI includes “equity” which means equal outcomes, which requires lowering of standards to accommodate identity groups.
Then the slide says USAA will provide an opportunity for all to obtain or advance their careers based on “merit.”
Point: DEI is the opposite of a meritocracy based system. We hope USAA operates based on meritocracy but that cannot happen when DEI predominates.
On its face, DEI sounds good and appears to overcome claims of racism; yet its focus on immutable characteristics of race, ethnicity, and gender enables deliberate discrimination to achieve equity.
Winning wars are far more consequential than winning games—professional sports are based on merit, not DEI.
USAA likely has 10s if not 100s of thousands of Korea and Vietnam veteran members who fought against Marxist Communism resulting in ~37,000 killed in Korea and 58,000+ killed in Vietnam; over 95,000 killed fighting the Marxist ideology that justifies DEI praxis.
We know USAA along with the DoD, all federal agencies, and private corporations are under great political pressure to support DEI.
But considering your customer base, including the combined ~200 years of USAA membership of the undersigned, we ask that you remove all support of DEI at the AFA and any other military organization; plus seriously consider what DEI means internally to USAA.
As loyal members of a first-class banking/insurance corporation that caters to those who dedicate or have dedicated their life to serving our Nation, we look forward to your response.
Very respectfully,
Robert D. Bishop, Jr.
Lieutenant General, USAF, Retired
Chairman, STARRS
William “Dean” Lee
Vice Admiral, USCG, Retired
Advisor, STARRS
Joseph W. Arbuckle
Major General, USA, Retired
Vice Chairman, STARRS
Ronald J. Scott, Jr.
Colonel, USAF, Retired
President and CEO, STARRS
Letter in PDF format: STARRS-USAA-Letter
Attachment: USAA Slide on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
THANK YOU for your letter to USAA! After 45+ years with them, I’ve decided to leave them. But all those who elect to stay and fight from within, I wish you Godspeed and great success!! LTC(R), USA, West Point Class of 1974
General,
Is it time, Sir, to switch our accounts from USAA to Navy Federal or Coast Guard FCUs? USAA, I feel hears you but action in the Board Room will be absent; however, I do hope USAA makes a course correction before it runs aground like Bud Light and Target.
Thank you for this eye3 opening article.
Semper Paratus!
Thank you for your letter drawing attention to this little known, and disheartening position by USAA. It seems ironic that an organization formed and chartered to meet the unique needs of military members, would now bow to solicit recognition in a woke ideology. Sadly, after 13 years of membership, my home, auto, and banking needs will have to find another institution worthy of my respect!
Another great week’s headlines on wokeism in the military!! I especially liked the open letter to USAA. The current USAA CEO is the first non-veteran and it shows. You can email him, but he never personally answers. Some minion may or may not respond, and the response is always defensive. Nonetheless, I would encourage all Grads, who are USAA members, to email the CEO and express their displeasure with the DEI display at the Academy library, partially funded by USAA. What were they thinking???
I left USAA after 35 years of “membership.” During the last ten years of that, I noticed that I was just another number to them. They no longer catered to officers and assumed we had integrity and honesty; instead they opened the membership to anyone who could claim that they had a relative in the military as far back as 1775… with no attempt to verify such claims. Compound that, I filed a claim for hail damage months after the incident (where everyone in my neighborhood got new roofs, but I declined the opportunity because we did not appear to have any problems… until we did). Usaa treated me like a scoundrel. They denied my claim three times (using the appeal process, I lost). Then my roofer told me that he met the adjudicating claims adjuster (a casual friend of his) some months after our claim was denied the final time and asked him why “he screwed” us… his response was, “I had to. USAA told me if I wanted to keep my job, the claim better come in under the deductible.”
Needless to say, when I found out, I called usaa and raised holy hell- demanded to speak to the VP and threatened an insurance fraud case… he pulled up my file and said “oh, it looks like you need a new roof. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”
I got the roof replaced and quit them. I wish I could quit them again for their wokeness!!
USAA denied our claim for damage caused by a storm. The final cost to us, $9000.00. USAA treated us like dirt and couldn’t have cared less. We also went through the appeal process and it was a joke. USAA blamed the building contractor and stated that they didn’t need any evidence to support their claim. We had been with USAA for over 30 years. Went with another insurance company and saved money.