Whistleblower statements about CRT examples in the military

Military service members sent Sen. Tom Cotton statements about radical CRT/DEI examples they experienced in the military. Sen. Cotton wrote a memorandum for the record to the Senate Armed Services Committee with all these statements.

Cotton confronted Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, saying that he’s received “several hundred” whistleblower complaints since President Joe Biden took office, and claimed that people are leaving the military because of training based on critical race theory.

“We’re hearing reports of plummeting morale, growing mistrust between the races and sexes where none existed just six months ago, and unexpected retirements and separations based on these trainings alone. These are not my words, they’re the words of your own troops.”

Cotton called the trainings “anti-American indoctrination.”

Read Memorandum (pdf) or below:

MEMORANDUM

To: Senate Armed Services Committee                           Date: 10 June 2021

From: Senator Tom Cotton

Subject: SECDEF/CJCS Posture Hearing

Statements on Critical Race Theory

1. Soldiers forced to watch videos about systemic racism: I work for (unit/location redacted) all of my military coworkers we were forced to participate in a race-based seminar titled “race in america” multiple times. When there, the very first thing we did before even getting to discuss our opinions on the sensitive subject matter was watch a video explaining how systematic racism is in FACT an issue facing America. The video described what systematic racism is, how it relates to white privilege, and how it even affects our military. After that we had a discussion about the video we watched and were supposed to explain what we learned or took away from But again, the discussion didn’t take place until the baseline assumption that systematic racism is a real and an existing problem we have to face was locked into place as fact.

2. Racial Justice Narrative pushed unwillingly on soldiers, decline in unit morale: I have served in the Marine Corps (redacted) years and I am currently a [officer rank redacted] in the reserves. I am Hispanic. I was part of the training session discussed in the linked article. What the article doesn’t discuss is that after cancelling the scheduled civil war historian due to his faith, the commander of the reserve unit, (redacted name) replaced the training block with a “discussion” on police brutality, white privilege, and systemic racism. Essentially a critical race theory training session. The discussion was dominated by high ranking (and white) Colonels and a younger junior Hispanic officer, who seemed extremely well prepared for the session with numerous articles to cite for the evidence of the military being systemically racist. I would later learn that the junior officer is a former DNC staffer. The majority of the officers observing the training were white and obviously uncomfortable speaking out, especially when the point of view was being pushed by individuals who write their fitness reports. Myself and several other officers who happened to also be racial minorities attempted to offer a dissenting point of view (after adjusting to the shock of what was being pushed in a last minute change to the schedule). We tried to state how racially neutral the military had been in our experience, and if anything gave minorities more However, our points were simply ignored by the Colonel, who repeatedly looped back to the young captain to push the racial justice narrative. We were of course apprehensive to push back any further and engage in a debate with a Colonel who far outranked us and was in charge of our fitness reports, awards, and billet assignments. Coupled with the clear religious discrimination, it was the most shocking event I’ve been involved in during my over decade of government service. The sessions effect had drastic negative effect on unit morale, with some officers electing to drop to the IRR as opposed to continuing with the unit. I do not know if they are willing to come forward as well.

3. Saying “All Lives Matter” considered to be unacceptable. Woke Fundamentalism in the Military training at my units (redacted) treats the thought of saying “All Lives Matter” as heretical and unacceptable. The unit encouraged turning in those who have such thoughts beliefs during the “extremism stand down day”.

4. Bias against conservative speech: As a member of the US military I have never seen the level of political bias as I now see in the US military. For my entire career I have never cared about the politics of my fellow service members. What I care about is we all are committed to upholding our oath to the I witnessed the bias in the extremism stand-down day ordered by the SECDEF. Case in point are the extremism case examples (from the DoD guide) which contained only right-wing examples. There were no examples of extremism from left-wing (Antiffa) or Islamic Jihadism (Al Queda or ISIS). I seem to remember Major Nidal Hassan killing over 10 service members at Fort Hood over 10 years ago but evidently that this kind of extremism does not appear to be a concern anymore. I also remember Antiffa led riots over th e summer 2020 which caused billions of property damage and killed several people. I noticed that the military tolerated partisan speech from military members reacting to Tucker Carlson while using their official military social media accounts but immediately disciplined the LTC Lohmeirer for his personal views on critical race theory. The military leadership seems only concerned about the events on January 6 and linking them to white supremacy for political reasons. When several of us asked in a survey why Antiffa and Islamic Jihadist groups were not included in the training guidance we never received an answer during the telephone conference event led by the general officer in charge of our organization. This training would have been much better received if it was balanced and condemned all elements of extremism (ie, Antiffa, ISIS, neo-nazis, KKK). However, several people in my office were disappointed and believe the training to be politically driven with an evident bias against conservative members of the military. Many of us are afraid to voice our concerns. I have grave concerns that the DoD extremist working group will target military members with conservative views versus pursuing legitimate extremist concerns from extremist political groups (left and right). Ultimately, if this is not corrected combat effectiveness and team cohesion will suffer thereby putting the US at grave risk. LTC Lohmeirer is courageous person to come up and voice the legitimate concerns about critical race theory and how it is creeping the military.

5. Biased Slideshow: I am currently in the United States Navy, The secretary of defense passed down to our chain of commands are oath and domestic terrorism slideshow to show all sailors in the navy, the entire slideshow talked about white supremacy and In my opinion only talked about white people being They then showed slides of the White House (sic.) attack and president trumps supporters and labeled them as terrorists to America, Not once did they mention the riots that happened over the past year By BLM or any other organization, the whole slideshow pretty much was saying white people and trump Supporters are racists, what a disgusting slideshow given to us by this administration.

6. Singling Out White Soldiers: We have regular meetings on our base. Equal Opportunity(EO) Meetings and they are pretty extreme I’ve mentioned it before but I don’t see anything really being done about it. I know the first one I attended was over BLM riots an the EO officer literally came out and said “all you whites need to shit () the hell up and listen to your black counterparts” saying how the military is racist an went on an on and there have been a few other examples another big one after.

7. Anti-Racism Instruction: (Redacted unit name), has recently began a campaign called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). It sounds innocous enough, and is completely voluntary for staff. The content, however, is critical race theory. They are, also paying an outside contracting firm (I assume using quite a bit of taxpayer money) to run training sessions on this topic. Suggested reading includes Ibram X Kendi–definitions of racism, microagressions, etc. from his books are used for the course. In the interest of keeping my job, I have not attended these sessions, but I also don’t have a venue to speak up and say that I don’t think we should be spending taxpayer money on these things. Diversity is a great goal–but it’s clear here they don’t mean diversity of thought; and I’m also strongly concerned about applying “equity” practices, as this goes directly against merit-based principles (federal system for promotions, awards, and hirings). I’ve taken several pictures of the pre-work for the course and messages this DEI program has sent out and am happy to send as follow up. I’m not sure that my colleagues share my concerns—a large number of people in the organization are outspokenly liberal and I’m not comfortable sharing my views. I would also ask that my name not be shared back to [unit redacted] with respect to this concern—I like my job and want to keep it, so long as equity programs aren’t being shoved down my throat. I do firmly believe that if my name were shared in this respect, I would be unable to effectively do my job.

8. Civilian DOD personnel disciplined for criticizing training; I said to a colleague at work, in a private conversation, that I did not appreciate the new SECDEF accusing the DoD workforce of “extremism” and of being “the enemy in our ranks.” I am a retired USAF officer, been in since [Year Redacted]. Took the oath to defend the Constitution, not subvert it, and would not tolerate among the ranks those who I have never seen any effort among my colleagues like that. I said, “I would like a definition of extremism. I would also like to see the evidence that there is extremism in the ranks. If there’s no evidence, this is a joke.” I was called in by a one-star and counseled for disrespecting the SECDEF and made to sign a letter that went in my file. Clearly an effort to suppress my first amendment rights. I did not disrespect SECDEF. I stand by what I said.

9. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack: I don’t have a detailed complaint. I’m leaving this anonymously as it can be viewed by the entire SOCOM enterprise. Directly on SOCOM’s home SharePoint page is a section called “Diversity & Inclusion.” If you click that link, it takes you to a long list of documents. One near the top labeled, “Unpacking the Knapsack of Privilege.” The actual title of the document, when you open to read it is “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy The article speaks about white privilege and male privilege and how we need to restructure society. To quote the last line, “As we know from watching men, it is an open question whether we will choose to use unearned advantage, and whether we will use any of our arbitrarily awarded power to reconstruct power systems on a broader base.” This attack on white people, and specifically white males is egregious and appalling and being done in the name of fake wokeness.

10. Surveillance of Social Media; Garrison Commander acknowledges that there is no evidence extremism on the I am stationed at (redacted location). I had to attend two Extremism Stand Down training sessions within a span of 6 weeks. One at the Garrison HQ led by the Garrison CDR and one via MS Teams that was led by the [redacted senior leader]. We were allowed to ask questions at the end of the training at the Garrison HQ. I asked if the DOD can provide any empirical evidence to demonstrate that extremism is on the rise within the military? The Deputy Garrison CDR stated there isn’t any evidence at this time to demonstrate that it is on the rise. A DoD Civilian who is retired military asked why is the training only focused on extremist groups on the Far Right and not pointing out Antifa and BLM on the Far Left who were burning down cities during the summer of 2020? The answer given because of the far-right groups that were involved in the 06 JAN 21 “insurrection”. Lastly, the most disconcerting issue is that the DOD is now surveilling service members’ social media accounts to see who are demonstrating extremist tendencies. It is chilling yet tragic for America now resembles Napoleon’s France and Stalin’s Russia which spied on it’s military officers to make sure their values and politics were in alignment with the revolution.

11. White males excluded from diversity training events. I am a [rank redacted] currently assigned to (redacted unit name) as a member of the Inspector Generals’ As you may know, each branch of the military conducted a racial disparity review this summer specifically focused on African American service members. The [service branch redacted] released their report in December. What you may not know is we just conducted a second review, this time focused on other races and gender. While the reviews in of itself are not an issue, the messaging and what was asked of us by The [service branch investigation service redacted] was. My role was to organize virtual focus groups for [service branch investigation service redacted] to interview, one series for race another for gender. The idea was for members to discuss their experiences and concerns. The problem is the demographics they wanted in the room to talk about these experiences. They specifically asked us to bring in Asian American, American Indian/Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and Hispanic/Latinx members for the racial groups. For the gender groups, it was exclusive to just women. As you read that list, I’m sure the issue became apparent. They attempted to excluded white men from sharing their experiences and offended many Latinos and Latinas by using the woke term Latinx. I must give my leadership some credit as when they advertised it to the base; they invited all members to participate with emphasis on those listed. However, my leadership still used the term Latix (sic.), and their primary reason for opening it up to everyone was they wouldn’t have been able to fill the focus groups without doing so. When I brought this up to my [leadership rank redacted] his repose (sic.) was dismissive and stated, “they didn’t mean it like that.” Because my leadership opened it up to everyone, I ensured that White men were included in these sessions and any info I sent out did not use the phrase Latinx, but that is definitely not what [investigation service redacted] wanted or what the [service branch inspector general redacted] advertised to the rest of the [service branch redacted]. In addition to these focus groups the [department redacted] IG sent out surveys to all members this survey was riddled with identity politics and received terrible feedback from those that even bothered to take it in the first place. As part of our selection process we at the [redacted unit] also sent out a survey. While ours was drafted in a way to be inclusive it still asked members to essentially place themselves in a bucket base on race or gender and likewise was met with critical feedback.

12. Condescending language to minorities: I am a [MOS redacted]. New to Active Duty but been in the Reserve for years. A little bit about myself, I am an immigrant from (redacted location). Few months ago, we had a leadership development and talked about race relations in the Army. The white officers shared about how they grew up not realizing their “white privilege” (even though they grew up in the farm, and basically lived a modest life). It was very ironic because when it was my turn to speak, I said that even though I grew up in a 3rd world country, and my skin is brown, that did not stop me from being in the same room as them. My color did not stop me from getting a Master’s from a prestigious university. The only thing that would stop me from achieving more is MYSELF. That in America, as a brown person, I have the SAME opportunity as them. It was a like a humble condescension (an oxymoron, if there is such a thing, if you know what I mean) to think that just because they are white, they think they have an advantage over me, and they feel sorry about that. Which was very ironic because unlike them, I have my Master’s and I outrank most of them! Lol.

13. BLM flag in barracks: I was deployed in Africa, in a combat zone. For part of my time there, I was on a naval In the barracks area of the installation, a massive BLM flag had been hung from the third story of the barracks, draping over both the second and first rows under it. The flag was probably fifty feet long, by fifteen feet wide. In addition to this, there were many service members that were wearing BLM t-shirts that sported additional BLM slogans, doo rags, and hats, all with BLM plastered on them. I am opposed to the BLM movement for many reasons, and seeing a constant reminder of this group daily, was offensive and distracting to me, especially in a combat zone. I also feel that it is a very politically driven and polarizing group, that has no business being advertised on a military base. There were also multiple people that I worked with, that felt the same way as I did about the group. I asked an individual that had influence on the base and with the base commander, why this was being allowed. He said it was the view of the commander that this movement was not political, and non-partisan, therefore, he had no issue with its advertisement. I asked him then if it would be ok if a hung a massive make America great again trump 2020 flag, and wore hats and memorabilia for the MAGA movement. He told me that would not be allowed, as that would be a very political statement, and cause a lot of offense to some people. I told him this seemed very one sided and hypocritical, and he said it was the commanders decision, and not his. I share this because I don’t think it was right then, or now, that there is such a double standard, when it comes to these issues. I felt powerless to affect any change, and just had to try and let it go and deal with it everyday.

14. “All Lives Matter” Unacceptable: During the last year in the Navy, as you are well aware of, the Navy came out with a mandatory anti-nationalist/Extremist It felt as if they were specifically targeting my personal/political views and it sent a stern message that no such activities and/or supporting President Trump would be tolerated. Also. they preached and praised BLM and said it’s okay to say “BLM” But when you say that “All lives Matter”, that is not acceptable. This nonsense needs to stop and focus needs to switch to what is really important and that is protecting this great Nation.

15. Servicemembers forced to participate in “privilege walks”: (Location redacted) members of wing, group, and squadrons including senior leadership personnel. What: Conducted popular online “privilege walk” group Questions asked during the event that separated members physically, regardless of rank/merit/ or honorable commendations, included questions such as “If you are white take a step forward.” “If you are male, take a step forward.” Etc. The purpose of this trendy exercise is to physically separate participants based on the amount of “privilege” they have. This message is damaging to the military organization, rank structure, and morale. It is factually untrue and especially for our military forces where your success relies entirely on your merits and we all start at the bottom of our enlisted/commissioned tiers. Also segregating military members in a practical exercise by race or gender with the intent of making those feel shame or guilt is racist and should not be tolerated in any organization, especially our military.

16. Soldiers forced to watch videos about systemic racism: I work for (unit/location redacted) all of my military coworkers we were forced to participate in a race-based seminar titled “race in america” multiple times. When there, the very first thing we did before even getting to discuss our opinions on the sensitive subject matter was watch a video explaining how systematic racism is in FACT an issue facing America. The video described what systematic racism is, how it relates to white privilege, and how it even affects our military. After that we had a discussion about the video we watched and were supposed to explain what we learned or took away from But again, the discussion didn’t take place until the baseline assumption that systematic racism is a real and an existing problem we have to face was locked into place as fact.

Statements on Standdown Briefings

17. Soldiers told that Antifa and BLM not the focus of current chain of command: As you know the entire military was subjected to “extremism briefs” in which command elements were forced to brief soldiers about extremism in the military and that the FBI was devoting tons of resources to rooting out “extremism” in the This however was at no point a fair and balanced affair as the briefers only discussed right wing extremism. At no point during the entire brief was left wing mob violence/groups discussed, simply that if we h ad a 3%’er sticker was on our cars we should take it off because it was now deemed a sign of white supremacy. Several soldiers brought up this lack of nuance and objectivity to which the briefers simply glossed over and redirected, “circle back” if you will, to right wing fringe groups. Lastly, a latino senior NCO raised his hand and said, “Sir, it seems that I, as a BIPOC, could wear nothing but a banana hammock, run through the streets of Seattle burning down buildings and flipping over police cars and I’m good; one of my white team mates has a 3%’er sticker on their truck and they are in jeopardy of losing their security clearance? That’s not right and we all know it isn’t.” The briefers stated that Antifa and BLM weren’t the focus of this current Chain of Command, with that the brief ended and we all filed out of the room confused and angry. This story has been echoed by my friends and colleagues in different units in different parts of the country almost verbatim.

18. No Formal Feedback System for Navy Training: Recently the navy had a training that had to be put out by every command. The training was about extremists. The only examples of extremist groups that was given was white Supremist groups. I’ve been serving in the navy for over 20 years and will be retiring next year. This was by far the worst training that I have ever been through. It made me, as a Caucasian male feel like I needed to prove that I’m not a racist individual. I tried to give feedback and voice my concerns but I have been ignored. I even tried finding ways on my own but have had no luck. This is also the first navy training that doesn’t have a formal feedback system in

19. Senior NCO’s advocating for BLM: Last year in the summer of 2020, we had the “Racism Stand Down” which was mandatory for the Armed Forces predating the “Extremism Stand Down” of this year. Our Enlisted Senior Leader at the time had approximately 25 to 30 enlisted personnel meet at an off-base location outside of uniform to discuss race in an open When she gave her opinion, she became an advocate for the group “Black Lives Matter (BLM)” and told us that we all need to support this cause, because it is morally right. This group is particularly hostile, and doesn’t align with my morals in any fashion. When Senior Non-Commissioned Officers inject their politics into the workplace, we lose our apolitical nature and ability to complete tasks with everyone around in a more effective manner. Enabling this behavior by setting a dangerous standard, is all that was accomplished.

20. Soldiers forced to watch documentary ‘13’: Rep Crenshaw, (Redacted Unit). Aug of 2020, our Brigade started implementing monthly stand down “Readiness Days”. The topics for these days and the content raised serious concerns for the politicization and indoctrination of our troops. Our August session took place during the height of BLM protests and calls to defund police departments. The content would have us distribute the documentary “13” by Ava DuVernay to our Soldiers and facilitate a MS Teams group discussion about systemic racism given approved discussion questions. Many [senior leader rank redacted] came forward with reservations on requiring our Soldiers to watch a revisionist historical account of our mass incarceration system (especially persuading them that out prison system is an extension of slavery). Another reservation was a 3-5 min clip in the film that used the voice of then President Trump set to the background of the Birmingham riots of 1963. Feb 2021 session (Commanders/1SGs were briefed by the BDE CMDR and X0) covered the “Insurrection” in which Washington’s Newburgh address was utilized to discuss the amount of military personnel that were protesting at the capital and that it paralleled to the mutiny plotted within the ranks to address Congress” failure to provide them back pay and pensions for their service during the American Revolution. NPR articles were presented as facts. The BDE CMDR made it a point to suggest service members within our ranks consider democrats as terrorist. He suggested that he was actively investigating someone in our formation that he was tipped off to having connections to the Proud Boys We covered DODI 1344.10 with specific mentions to MAGA bumper stickers, while approved under 1344.10 with the quote “just because you can doesn’t me you should”. They also used an example of a support letter military generals had signed for Mitt Romney during the 2012 election and how that undermined President Obama. This was an extremely awkward heavily politicized discussion and was then entrusted in the Commander and I to present this information and moderate this discussion within our formation. Extremism was another readiness day topic for the month of March in which the Commander and I again had to navigate through extremism topics and moderate discussions. Almost all of the extremism groups presented were from Neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies. I found throughout these discussions that many our young troops don’t actively follow politics and are confused with the messaging at times, our older troops see right through the politics, Many struggle to connect on why we heavily condemned Jan 6 but refused to talk about the violent riots during the summer of 2020. Many had questions about groups like Antifa not being discussed during out Extremism presentation. While isolated incidents of racism/extremism may occur in our military the idea that our institutions are systemically racist and our number one military threat is extremism is a not shared throughout my formation.

21. Told Not to Ask Questions or Record Briefing: Prior Active Duty, current [National Guard Unit Redacted]. Before I get into it, I want to preface it with the fact that I adore my unit and the people I work with. We are a small unit and it’s almost like a family to me. Although the United States isn’t perfect, I love my country and what we stand for. Two months ago we had our “extremism” brief, which included interactive discussions, lasting around four hours in total. The brief was given by an [senior leader/organization redacted] to an audience of about 60 people. I was aware these discussions were mandatory and what they consisted of. We were told ahead of time by our O6 not to ask questions and not to record the briefing, which was the first time I heard anything like that in my 9 years of service. The first item that rubbed me the wrong way was the emphasis that we took an oath and we must be willing to give our lives for our country. There’s a time and place for this language, but this wasn’t it. It was reiterated maybe 10 times, which felt forced and unnatural. As the brief continued and slides were presented, it described the difference between a hate crime and a hate action. The slides mentioned that this only included protected groups, meaning you could discriminate with impunity against non-protected groups (based on the state). I wanted to inquire why it’s legal to discriminate against certain groups and not others, but knew that would paint me as the person they were eluding to throughout the brief. Throughout the entirety of the brief, I had a rock in my throat, knowing I couldn’t rebuttal any comments without repercussions. Out of all the “extremist” groups mentioned, 100% of them were “white” and were blown way out of proportion. Not one mention of Black Lives Matter or Antifa. There was a lot of talk about “equity” and not equality. How many of our norms and symbols are racist. One of the items that my unit uses regularly has a symbol, and that symbol was on the “racist” list, so we have to change our workflow to accommodate. It was mentioned that organizations as a whole should be on the lookout for “extremists”, which included anyone who questioned the actions of the current administration. It really felt like anyone who questioned anything that was mentioned during the brief would be labeled as an extremist. I wanted to walk out of the brief because it felt like I was being fed obvious propaganda, but there was just that overwhelming feeling it would paint me as an extremist. During the small group discussions, I asked a benign question (forgot exactly what was asked), and the immediate response from one of my superiors was “who do you mean by we?” It felt like his response to my question was hostile and like I was being labeled as an “extremist” for asking. This forced propaganda all but ensured my exit from the military. Over the years the military has been hinting at marxist ideology, but this is more than I can stomach.

22. Airmen forced to participate in exercises identifying their supposed bias: During a recent staff meeting, our Air Force [civilian senior leader role redacted] had us privately make a list of the top 10 people we trust (excluding family). After completing that task, he then asked us to also privately list out the race, gender, and sexual orientation of our top 10 trusted people. Following the making of the lists, the [senior civilian leader redacted] challenged everyone to consider if they value diversity and if we practice what we preach. The exercise was frustrating because the implication was that if my list looked like myself, then I wasn’t doing a good job. The exercise was also based on the classic left leaning identity groups. After the staff meeting I requested a meeting with my Air Force section lead in order to communicate that I think the messaging with these training events is wrong. Rather than focusing on what color or gender someone is, we should rally around our shared goal of defending the Constitution of the United States. My section lead informed me that a lot of these discussions are being directed at higher levels. I have volunteered to lead the next required diversity training.

23. Soldier allowed to wear BLM shirt: During the DOD-mandated standown and “discussion on extremism,” it was made very clear what form of “extremism” was being targeted and which side of the political aisle was not subject to criticism. At our unit, Soldiers were told to wear civilian attire for the discussion. One of our Soldiers, a black male who, since election season, has increasingly vocalized his misgivings with not only the U.S. military but with white people unilaterally, wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo and title of the Black Panther Party. The FBI designates the Black Panther Party literally as an “extremist” organization, yet it was made clear in our discussion that those aren’t the extremists we’re concerned with and that there’s no reason to even bring it up in conversation. We’ve created a woke environment in which politically-minded people within our organization can take bold, subversive actions like this without even the thought of consequence. In fact, they know the opposite is true. Addressing those sorts of actions would bring about endless EO complaints and could stifle or even ruin someone’s career on the spot.

24. No mention of Antifa/BLM during standdown training: This past drill weekend we had a supremacy stand down which involved all the unit leadership talking to the Soldiers about remaining A-political on social media, and outlining what constitutes White Supremacy. Special emphasis was put on identifying supremacist groups, all of which were conservative in nature. My unit has been on the front line in every violet () outbreak in Minneapolis since the George Floyd incident. Not one mention of Antifa and BLM because the US Government doesn’t acknowledge them as hate groups. Anyone who has been face to face with them during the riots will tell you they are in fact well organized militant hate groups. However, we are encouraged to stand with them, but not groups that stand for the Constitution.

Preferential Standards

25. Hiring Based on Race: I have worked for (unit redacted) for the past 12 years. They conduct training expeditions for several military They now require all staff to attend a three day seminar on Critical Race Theory. And they hire new instructors based upon their race not experience or skill sets.

26. Hiring Based on Race: I was slotted to interview for a wing executive position working for the [senior air force leader rank redacted]. The process involves several layers of interviews with “higher ups” before the final interview with the [senior leader rank redacted]. During my last pre-interview interview, I was essentially talked out of the job by the [senior leader rank redacted], affirming how difficult the job would be and how ill- fitting it was for someone in my career field [MOS redacted]. At one point during the interview, [senior leader rank redacted] said there is a high likelihood I will not get this job because I’m Specifically he said, “What if you walked into the Wing office and saw a room full of white males do you think this accurately represents our Air Force?”. I replied “If they are all qualified to do the job, I don’t see the problem sir”. The conversation was abruptly ended after that and I was asked to leave the office so he can chat with another [rank redacted] that accompanied me to this particular interview.

Bias in Military Academies

27. Diversity Team at Naval Academy Support BLM: I retired from the USMC on (REDACTED DATE) My last four years were teaching at the Naval Academy. 2020 brought drastic changes including the Superintendent Vice Admiral Buck supporting the Marxist and Violent Black Lives Matter I have included a link from the USNA diversity team comprised of Midshipmen who laud BLM and speak of the United States and the Military as inherently racist. They are Midshipmen who know nothing yet of the military and are unqualified to say the military is racist. My (REDACTED TIME OF SERVICE) days of active duty service have proven to me otherwise. To allow Midshipmen and our future officers to bring this mindset in to our ranks is detrimental. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eypiF3UDLvs

Other Woke Policies

28. Biased Signs: After the latest round of “extremism training” in our unit, signs started appearing. The sign depicts a human silhouette filled with This is obviously meant to spark a thought process of the type of indicators one should look out for an report. However, the largest and most prominent words are: “white” “violent” “extremism” there are no other races mentioned but several other references to religion, racially, and even Texas for whatever reason. Several Soldiers expressed concern over the posters citing EO complaints but they continue to be hung around the unit area. This is an actual Army furnished poster and not unit specific. Many people now feel targeted due to the recent” right wing, anti-second amendment, extremism” training. I can email a photo of this poster.

Tom Cotton