Make it stop. No, I’m serious. We should be demanding our tax dollars back for this waste. The greatest way to erode national security is to invest not in how to train your fighting force to protect America, but to train them to “respect other’s feelings,” and create a siren song of inclusion for the transgender lobby.
From The Washington Free Beacon.
The official training video is meant to emphasize “the importance of using correct pronouns as well as polite etiquette when you may not be sure of someone’s pronouns,” according to the Navy, which late last month published the video online. The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service touts the video as an “official U.S. Navy video” posted by Air Force staff sergeant John Vannucci.
The video is the latest bid by the military to foster a more sensitive environment for its members and staff. The Army mandates similar gender identity training and trains officers on when to offer subordinates gender-transition surgery, the Washington Free Beacon reported in March. These programs are part of a larger push by the Biden administration to make the military more welcoming to transgender individuals.
Because when I need to kill an enemy, focusing on feelings and social experiments is always the best strategy.
God help us.
I think back to December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor. As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt succinctly put it, “A date that will live in infamy.” Over 90 years later, this hapless Biden administration barely acknowledges its weight. But the actions of the Japanese, and our response to them, is a real-world example of WHY you have a properly trained fighting force; it is not to navel-gaze, hold hands, and sing Kumbaya.
When actual systemic racism and inequity existed in the armed forces, the Navy isolated Blacks to a handful of service categories: coal heavers, messmen, stewards, and cooks. That’s right, we were the servant class of the U.S. Navy for the balance of the 19th to the early 20th Century. Among our worst presidents, Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat, what a surprise) decided segregating an already desegregated armed forces to go along with the racist societal norms of the day was of extreme importance.
Sound familiar?
The Navy limited the ratings for which blacks could apply to coal heaver, messman, steward, and cook. Chief Gunner’s Mate John Henry Turpin, a survivor of the explosion aboard the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor, was an exception. Most of the 10,000 African Americans in the Navy during World War I fought to make the world safe for democracy despite their own limited opportunities. There were no blacks in the naval officer corps. Only a small number of them remained in the Navy during the interwar period. In fact, the Navy did not recruit African Americans for general service after 1922. From about 1919 to 1932, the Navy relied on Filipinos to serve in the ratings traditionally held by blacks. The changing status of the Philippines led the Navy to resume recruitment of African Americans.2
The point is, no one was making Blacks feel safe and being mindful of our feelings. I can safely say that Black military recruits probably heard every racial slur in the book and then some. But we weren’t crying for safe spaces; we stood tall and made our mark. Dorie Miller was among those changing the landscape of the country and our history.
Doris “Dorie” Miller joined the Navy in 1938 because between sharecropping and cleaning a ship, the latter option would actually be easier work and provide for his family. When Blacks were severely limited in their ability to ascend the ranks, Miller was promoted from mess attendant to Ship’s Cook on the USS West Virginia.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Miller was ready, because even as a cook, he was trained to fight, not to consider whether he was using the right pronouns or to contemplate his feelings.
After serving breakfast for the ship’s crew aboard the West Virginia on the morning of December 7th, 1941, Miller was collecting laundry when the ship was attacked by the first of several torpedoes.
Remembering his training, Miller immediately reported to his post in the ammunition holds of an anti-aircraft gun on board, only to find the gun was destroyed. Knowing time was against him, he raced to “Times Square”, the central intersection of the ship’s passageways.
Though untrained in artillery, Miller loaded ammunition and managed to shoot down a Japanese plane. He worked to save his severely injured Captain (who unfortunately died), and did his utmost, along with the rest of the crew, to save the USS West Virginia. Miller and the surviving crew had to ultimately abandon ship. Far too belatedly, Miller was the first Black to receive the Navy Cross for his distinguished service. Miller is also a cultural touchstone, as his story is featured in every Pearl Harbor film.
Dorie Miller was forged in adversity, defended his country in spite of the fact that his country treated him as less than, and made history, as well as changed history, because of it.
But today’s military, which is far more racially integrated than the military back in 1941, is intent on forcing diversity and inclusion and making people feel comfortable with gender-affirming nonsense. This does not build steel spines and determined wills. This does not prepare anyone for the hardships of war or the ability to fight a war.
I seriously doubt that Naval Undersea Warfare Center engineer Jony Rozon, sporting his rainbow-themed shirt and spouting his pronouns, would know what to do if his ship was bombarded by artillery fire. Should a conflict occur, and Rozon is taken as a prisoner of war, is he going to tell the enemy he wants to be addressed as “he/him”? Is the enemy going to have more “respect” for him because he requires this?
All China, Russia, or any force against us needs to do is watch this video to know we are now easy pickings.
Perhaps that is the point.