Statement to DACODAI by Lt. Colonel Marc Van Ells, USAF ret, USAFA ’73
Dear Sir/Ma’am,
In anticipation of your upcoming public meeting on 2-3 May 2024, I want to provide a written statement, since I will be unable to attend in person.
I am writing to express my outrage and concern over what is happening to our military and in particular to the Service Academies.
I am a 1973 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and spent 21 years on active duty in the Air Force.
The introduction of DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) into the military sounded fairly innocuous, when I first heard about it. However, as it spread rapidly throughout all levels of the DOD, including the Service Academies, I began to realize the political/progressive nature of this divisive/Marxist ideology.
It is tearing the military establishment apart, sewing seeds of division throughout the ranks, and lowering physical and academic standards in the process. It is no wonder that recruiting and retention are significantly impacted.
My Academy Class of 1973 was/is the main sponsor of the annual Character and Leadership Development Symposium at the Academy.
It started out as a great idea and forum, with outstanding keynote speakers who spoke about their “character and leadership” experiences/challenges as combat/support commanders/leaders, both Officer and Enlisted, often under very difficult circumstances, without constantly injecting “race” or “gender” into their presentations.
Gradually, the nature and selection of the keynote speakers shifted towards a heavy emphasis on DEI.
The most recent symposium was an absolute absurdity! One keynote speaker was the CEO of United Airlines, who received a Business Degree from the Air Force Academy, only served in the Air Force for a few years, and now performs “Drag Queen Shows” in his spare time.
As the CEO of United, he has mandated: “Our flight deck should reflect the diverse group of people on board our planes every day. That’s why we plan for 50% of the 5,000 pilots we train in the next decade to be women or people of color.”
The bottom line is clear: It will no longer be merit alone that determines who half of United’s pilots-in-training will be; it will be race and gender! Safety/performance be damned!!
If the intent of the Character and Leadership Symposium was to educate and motivate Cadets to be great Business Leaders or Drag Queen performers, than the selection of the United CEO may have made some sense.
However the purpose of the Service Academies used to be the education and training of future Military Leaders, especially future combat leaders.
Sadly, that’s no longer the case.
The Service Academies have just become standard liberal arts colleges, and not particularly good ones at that.
The second keynote speaker at the recent CLDS was a transgender Colonel in the Space Force. I have not doubt that the Colonel has experienced some very interesting and challenging situations, because of gender identification, but considering the percentage of transgenders in our society and military, the selection of this Colonel as a keynote speaker clearly had more to do with pushing the DEI agenda down the throats of the Cadets, than it had to do with educating and motivating future Air Force leaders.
Finally, there was a black civilian speaker at the Symposium, who spoke about “systemic racism” in the United States and by inference the military.
This despite the Air Force Academy leadership still failing to provide evidence of “systemic racism” at the Academy. A previous Academy Superintendent had made that accusation, but after a FOIA request for evidence more than 2.5 years ago, no evidence has been provided!!
In closing, I would just like to say that I am extremely disappointed and frankly ashamed of what the Service Academies have become.
In all honesty, I don’t think taxpayers should foot the bill anymore for the Academies, since they no longer serve their original purpose.
We don’t need Service Academies to mainly develop business leaders and civilian social justice warriors. There are more than enough civilian colleges and universities to do that.
We also don’t need military leaders, who are proponents of Marxism.
Our country and military used to stand up and fight against Communism and Marxism. Now the military is sadly adopting Marxism ideology, with devastating results!!
I want you to know that I am a proud member and supporter of STARRS.
Since I will not be able to attend your meeting, I do ask that you allow Lt. General (Ret.) Rod Bishop and other STARRS members, who will be in attendance, to speak and present evidence on my behalf.
I appreciate your time and for hosting the public meeting!
Very respectfully,
Marc D. Van Ells, Lt. Colonel (Ret.) USAF
U.S. Air Force Academy – Class of 1973
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