Reps. Mike Waltz and Wesley Hunt warn military ‘woke’ politics negate ‘effectiveness and readiness’
Heather Hamilton
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The military’s “woke” policies are putting race before effectiveness, according to two veterans who now serve in Congress.
Reps. Mike Waltz (R-FL) and Wesley Hunt (R-TX) joined a conversation on Fox News Tonight, explaining how leftist policies are affecting the military ability to win wars.
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“I found out what was being taught at West Point, which was a seminar titled ‘How to Cope with your Whiteness and White Rage’ at West Point,” said Waltz, a combat-decorated Green Beret who served more than 26 years in the U.S. Army.
“They were recommending to not say ‘mom’ and ‘dad,’ not say ‘boyfriend,’ ‘girlfriend,’ and they’re being taught that the flag that they signed up to die for is inherently, at its core, bad — that it’s misogynist, that it is racist, that it is colonialist,” Waltz continued. “A lot of recruits are saying, ‘That’s not what we signed up for,’ and it is tearing our military apart from the inside, and it’s impossible to avoid the conversation.”
Hunt, who is a former Apache helicopter pilot, added that race should not be a factor when it comes to defending the United States.
“We have this bond together based on our humanity and imperfections,” Hunt said. “We were all Americans, No. 1. That’s what’s so important.”
Lt. Col. Stu Scheller, who was discharged in December 2021 after appearing in viral videos speaking out against political and military leaders’ handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, also noted that “wokeism” in the military is creating inequality of opportunity.
“Wokeism is just simply placing the social values of equal opportunity over the values of the organization, so in the military, it should be war-fighting,” Scheller said, explaining how he saw the push to create more diversity of race among combat officers despite the soldiers’ expressed desires. “Equality, so the critical race theory, just assuming that the system is inherently racist, is shortsighted.”
“I think everyone should subscribe to: ‘We want equality. We want one standard.’ If you want to be an infantry officer, Apache pilot, whatever it is, you have to achieve the standard.”
Waltz agreed, saying servicemen and servicewomen should be placed in positions based on standards and ability to perform a task.
“It’s about standards. Not about gender, race, or religion. This is the standard to be a Marine, the standard to be an Air Force pilot or Green Beret. That’s it. Either you meet the standard, or you don’t. That should be the military’s sole objective,” Waltz said.
“Whether you’re a farm boy from Indiana, or inner-city Detroit, or wherever, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, you’re all forced together,” Waltz added. “That’s why I think we have to get back to national service, some shared sacrifice for a cause bigger, and then the only color you’re worried about is red, white, blue because you’re all Americans serving a cause bigger than yourself.”
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Capt. Jason Church, who has retired from the Army, also explained that another soldier’s race did not matter to him while he was wounded on the battlefield.
“If I had people surrounding me who could not meet the standards physically, to carry me off the battlefield, could not meet the standards in the air to provide air support, fighting off the Taliban to make sure a medevac could land, I’m dead. I’m not here,” Church said. “When we look at this over time, it also reduces America’s abilities to fight and win wars. If you have people dying on the battlefield and forces losing the ability to project power, that’s how an enemy like China or Russia beats us. If we’re prioritizing politics over military effectiveness and readiness, we will lose the next war.”