Statement to DACODAI by Colonel Daniel J. Bohlin, USAF ret
Comment for Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion Public Meeting, 2-3 May 2024
Background
Last week was the 82nd anniversary of the historic Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, 18 April 1942. I note the event because it was a very inclusive and diverse group of leaders with character, commitment and competence who successfully planned, executed and survived the one-way, surprise attack on Japan. This effort rallied our great nation in a time of war. Twenty-five years later, after reading an article in Reader’s Digest about the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), entitled “A Different Breed of Cat,” I applied for admission to USAFA to become a pilot and a career Air Force officer. In the process I turned down lucrative scholarships to the University of Chicago and Brown University. To this day, I’m glad I did.
I’m a 1971 USAFA graduate who delayed possible graduate school for pilot training, then volunteered for an 0-2A flying assignment as a forward air controller (FAC) in South Vietnam. My time in country was extremely brief because of the ceasefire agreement signed 27 January 1973. A FAC, Class of ’71 classmate, died that day, shot down while trying to locate 2 downed Navy pilots. No longer needing prisoners, the enemy killed him on the ground and reportedly desecrated his corpse by nailing his Geneva Convention card to his forehead.
BGen Robin Olds was the Commandant of Cadets (COC) during our four years at USAFA. Arriving from a distinguished combat tour in Southeast Asia (SEA), Olds personified the air warrior ethos that he lived so well and effectively passed on to us. Paraphrasing, in an address to the entire Cadet Wing, he made clear that we were at USAFA to be “combat leaders” and if that “isn’t your thing” then “leave, the sooner the better.” Loud & clear, spot on and understood! A few left, most stayed and served, with several dying in SEA even after the Vietnam ceasefire.
The general’s words and wisdom served well during my 26+ year career of flying, schools, staff and political/military assignments all over the world. Consequently, when, as a gift to the Cadet Wing, our class opted for the Air Warrior Combat Memorial (AWCM) with a statue of then Col. Olds (“our COC”) as the AWCM’s centerpiece, my wife and I generously donated to the cause. We’re glad we did and would do so again, despite what is now occurring in the DOD and USAFA.
Present Day
Since the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) themed briefing to the Cadet Wing in 2022, I’ve done my due diligence on what now transpires at USAFA. Despite being cloaked in the word salad of critical race theory (CRT) and DEI, this DOD “transformative” effort is deeply rooted in cultural Marxism (CM). CM divides people into groups, then pits some against others by using grievances that only some special recognition of a group, at the expense of another group, can supposedly resolve. It’s a toxic theory that fails to deliver success in a competing world – especially in war. But first, CM causes great harm before landing on the ash heap of history, all the while trying to take great institutions with it.
Inundated with all manner of Marxism while attending a very leftist university in France during the late 1970s, I know firsthand whereof I write. DOD cannot forge a USAFA cadet into a winning warrior (the raison d’etre of any military service school) with a D & I academic minor, a purple cord, a Spectrum Club or a special reading room. American taxpayers do not get their money’s worth on this CM- based effort, nor does the USAFA Cadet Wing, the Air Force or the Space Force.
Understanding clearly the pernicious effects of CM on USAFA, I’m now a member of Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services (STARRS). My plans to make further financial contributions to USAFA are on hold. I’m deferring efforts to also further the warrior ethos at USAFA until senior DOD leadership expunges all manner of CRT/DEI related programs at the institution. USAFA must again resort exclusively to merit and ability for determining who’ll be the core of warriors, career officers and senior leaders in our Air Force and Space Force.
Finally, the published agenda for the DACODAI meeting disappoints. Its schedule shows HR presentations and research studies but omits military officers with war related/real world experiences. Importantly, they could offer the needed warrior perspective on the issues before the committee. Like the Doolittle Raiders, the future should belong to USAFA applicants who have the character, commitment and competence to succeed in whatever mission the nation requires of them.
These aspirants to combat leadership do not need more CM-inspired slogans or alphabet-soup programs. They’ll benefit far more from reading BGen Olds’ biography and from the military training to lead in war – and then to WIN it.
Respectfully submitted,
Col. Daniel J. Bohlin, USAF (Ret.)
24 Apr 2024
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