West Point military academy drops ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ from mission statement

We’re just here for the comments, 2.5K so far.

Fox News: The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has made the decision to remove the “Duty, Honor, Country” motto from its mission statement.

Officials stressed that the phrase would remain West Point’s motto, however, and that the mission statement has changed on a regular basis; this new mission statement is West Point’s tenth since 1925. “Duty, Honor, Country” hadn’t been included as part of the mission statement until 1998.

In a letter sent to students and supporters, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland said the phrase would be replaced in the mission statement with the words, “Army Values.” . . . . (read more on Fox News)

What People Are Saying

From the article comment section:

But first an observation: There were 2 or 3 trolls in the comment section (one whose handle had “666” in it) who were obviously desperately trying to frantically negate every comment so as to turn it in favor of West Point’s position/to West Point’s advantage, but just couldn’t keep up with over 2.5K comments. It’s curious because who were they? Cadets in a cyberspace/social media class project or Army psyops practicing their craft to change perceptions? I believe that would be illegal, covertly trying to sway American public opinion (but when has that stopped them before?). The negation comments came across as rather young, snobby virtue-signaling like young Gen Z’s condescending of the public yet obsessively persistent in trying to cancel out every opinion. It was so obvious any reader would simply begin to overlook the negation after negation happening–ignoring their effort.  I’ve never seen such a huge effort like this in a comment section before. Who would/could undertake something like that? And why?

“There is no doubt what “Duty, Honor, Country “ means to an intelligent person. When nebulous terms are recited, the meaning can change, to hide the real agenda. This is not good.”

“Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland said the phrase would be replaced in the mission statement with the words, “Army Values.” Hence the problem. “Army Values” means anything that culture elitists determine, and those values are fluid. “Duty, Honor, and Country” are eternal values that should never be altered. Gilland was quick to mention that the change to the mission statement is nothing to worry about because “Duty, Honor, and Country” hasn’t always been in it. But in today’s cultural climate, we are not ignorant to the fact that the new phraseology is just another step toward dismantling tried and true military standards and traditions.”

“I spent 30 years in the Army. I love it when high ranking Generals spin the decision(s) made. In this case, this so called General is wrong. Duty, Honor, Country is not just a motto for our Army, it’s a motto for our country.”

“Very disappointed this phrase was dropped. I am an Army vet and mom of West Point grads and currently serving Army officers.”

“There is no doubt what “Duty, Honor, Country “ means to an intelligent person. When nebulous terms are recited, the meaning can change, to hide the real agenda. This is not good.”

“I am pained to the core by this. Is Semper Fi next?”

“If you have to do a full court press to explain why you did something, you probably shouldn’t have done it.”

“The “liberalization” of the military started taking off when Obama was in office where he fired all those generals and top leadership whom held traditional values. The goal is to weaken and indoctrinate the military in such a way that it will not get in the way of a future revolution/transformation, and even get it to help the liberal cause.”

“My friend’s son received a presidential appointment to West Point 2 years ago. His dad is a retired Green Beret. He decided against it and went to Germany for college and loves it. Can’t say I blame him. He wanted to go army since a little kid, but this anti American atmosphere took that away.”

“It’s official now, our military is completely and utterly broken. I wouldn’t want anyone joining any branch of the armed services, and will advise all my children and grandchildren to look elsewhere for a career.”

“As a retired Army MSG with decades of service to this nation, this saddens me greatly. I am SO glad I am no longer on active duty. I weep for this once great nation & for all who are serving in this new “woke” military.”

“Sounds like the general and those who bowed to the change are progressives. We continue to allow words to be redefined and meanings changed which is detrimental to the country. Duty, Honor and Country would be hard to redefine so lets just eliminate them and make it our motto. If I were a betting man the motto will be eliminated or replaced within a few years. Sad situation we find ourselves in as a country.”

“Hmmmm, a little strange….”working with leaders from across West Point and external stakeholders”, who are these “external stakeholders”? ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ is as core to the U.S. Army, not just the Academy, as ‘God, Country, Flag’! When we see efforts to change ‘words’ or redefining ‘words’ there is normally more going on than just wordsmithing!”

“The DEI-struction of our military.”

“Went to an air base recently. Saw several enlisted walk past an officer – WITH NO SALUTE. Guess military courtesies are dead on arrival, these days. There is no military today. Just a bunch of slackers wearing the same COLORED clothing who will throw away their GUNS at the first sign of attack. Thank God for the millions of vets who still LOVE their flag and country. That pretty much leaves out ALL the liberal, left wing democrats.”

“Duty, Honor, Country” could still have been made a part of that mission statement…..Just another way to erase US History.”

“Although it’s still the motto, taking it out of the mission statement at a time when USMA is being criticized as “Woke Point” is just stupid and looks bad. The last real “adult leadership” running West Point was back in the late-1970s when they brought Gen. Andrew Goodpaster back on active duty to be the Superintendent and clean up the mess from the honor scandal that broke in 1976.”

“By introducing intersectionality into the military the Marxists are fostering a sense of division within the military against the civilian population. A woke military whose members do not identify with the majority of citizens will be rather easily turned against and used against the civilian population.”

“Army values!!! What exactly are those values if not to Duty, Honor & Country? Who is it that gets to determine what the values of West Point are especially in light of all the WOKE and DEI nonsense being implemented within our Military under this administration.”

“And this is another reason why none of my kids will ever join this disgusting woke military. And I’ve a veteran.”

“And of course, values change along with the decline of a nation. I’d like to know what forces organized this surrender of values. Sounds WOKE to me!”–Sergeant, infantry USSF

“It seems “Army Values” is a moving target. DEI anyone?”

“You can be sure that those same people who initiated the witch-hunt in the military for ‘white supremacists’ are behind this, too. This change didn’t come from a soldier. It was imposed by a civilian with an agenda.”

“LOL I was in the Army when they came out with “army values”. I used to mock it for the following ten or so years they promoted that slogan until moving on. I still don’t have a clue what “army values” mean. I do however understand what duty, honor, and country means.”

“Deleting those two powerful and meaningful words, those important words, with two meaningless words “army values” weakens the mission statement. Army values will be defined differently by each person resulting in a mission statement without a rudder.”

“A military veteran with 26 years of service to this country I am speechless at the absurdity of what is happening to our military today. I would have never joined when I became of age under the conditions that exist today. Patriots know there are many ways to serve one’s country outside the military. I would encourage our patriotic youth to seek those other avenues of service until such time as the military returns to those traditional values we hold In common as Americans.”

“This change will incur most likely a significant cost in $$ over time. Why do this? While 2 of the 7 core “Army Values” include “duty” and “honor”, they do not include “country”. This seems watered down by using a “reference”. Now wondering when the Army Values will change to include any one or even all of the DEI.”

“Changing words to mean something different within the same mission statement is not going to improve performance. This is nothing but more Woke policies weakening a fighting branch of the Armed Forces. This sounds like some yahoo of a political bureaucrat formulating this statement to make it sound less patriotic and more pacifistic for funding some program within the system of training or readiness.”

“Intentionally destroying morale across all sectors one day at a time. More word play by the leftists, controlling language.”

“Bad decision Army. Those words already mean so little to so many who are living under the blanket of freedom provided by men and women who have fought and died for our Nation. Duty, Honor, Country should remain the cornerstone of America’s officer corps.”

“The removal of the army being pro COUNTRY is the main target. The Globalist oligarchy wants allegiance to the USA eradicated.”

“DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY sends a power message of values with three words. “Army values” is pure Newspeak. A phrase the left who hate this country can redefine anytime they want, and do that as often as they want.”

“Changing your credo to ‘Army values’ supports the current trend in the military of gender awareness and training and racial indoctrination.”

“My late father is a commissioned officer through Army ROTC. I received my AF commission through AFROTC. When my mother and father pinned my Second Lieutenant bars on my epaulets during the commissioning ceremony, my father said to me, “Son, Duty, Honor and protecting our country is your responsibility.” That was 47 years ago, I remember the day as if it was yesterday.”

“Army Values” sounds like some sort of slogan that brand would come up with when they couldn’t actually define any values.”

“Army values as defined by the administration in the White House?”

“Working with external stakeholders who obviously don’t agree with the concept or meaning of Duty, Honor, or Country.”

“Army Values”?, sounds like a moving dart. Duty, Honor and Country are very specific words. What is it with desk/paper pushers that feel the need to improve on perfection?”

“Slowly grinding away at what the term “Army Values” even means….. ‘gaslighting’ at it’s finest…. (Syme, to Winston, in Orwell’s 1984) “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.”….. “Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?”

“Who are the these ‘external stakeholder’?

“Without Duty Honor and Country- it’s just another political organization wearing funny outfits and can just as easily be replaced with a decent ROTC program.”