Military officials doubled down Thursday on their push for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the U.S. military. A House hearing heard from a parade of personnel from Biden’s Pentagon extolling the virtues of woke initiatives in the armed forces.
The Army’s Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs’ Agnes Schaefer called “a diverse and talented force of trained and cohesive teams” the single “most important” determining factor of our nation’s military readiness.
Gil Cisneros, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, called DEI initiatives “essential to unite cohesion and trust.”
None of the witnesses before the house hearing offered significant evidence to back up their bizarre claims. That, however, did not slow the claims from coming fast and furious.
Alex Wagner, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, backed up these assertions.
Divisive DEI trainings and rhetoric absolutely do not belong in our military, yet the Biden Administration is hellbent on injecting identity politics into our military.
My full opening statement from today's Armed Services Committee hearing –> pic.twitter.com/ZGTvybd7Yi
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) March 22, 2023
He told the representatives that the mandated DEI initiatives are “informed by science and business best practices, congressional mandates, and data-focused policy reviews and assessments.
Wagner added that the “lived experiences” of military personnel also back up DEI claims, though actual evidence of these assertions was sorely lacking.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) noted that despite millions of man-hours expended for DEI-specific training, the witness could not cite a shred of empirical evidence that defends the expenditure. He also cited Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for “extremism.”
Coinciding with the House action, a senator on the Armed Services Committee demanded that Austin explain several job listings offering six-figure salaries for DEI positions.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) recalled in his letter to Austin that the secretary declared earlier this month that competition with China is a major military objective. How then, the senator asked, does that coexist with the DOD being distracted by woke initiatives?
Schmitt further requested information on how many DEI-related positions are in each military branch along with job titles and salaries.
According to USAJOBS, one of the positions is an administrative specialist with the Navy for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The pay scale for that job rises to $183,500.
This woke silliness might be easy to just write off if it were not in the military. The U.S.’s global rivals are not encumbered by such distractions, and there are far more important objectives for the armed forces to be focused on.
