We have previously covered the firing of former Space Force Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Lohmeier, who published a #1 bestselling book documenting the unconscionable spread of critical race theory, DEI, and all things “woke” in the military: Space Force Commander Removed For Criticizing Spread of Critical Race Theory in U.S. Military:
A little more than one year after President Donald Trump launched the newest branch of the U.S. military, the Space Force is reporting its first casualty.One of the branch’s new commanders has been lost, not due to any foreign actor, but rather sacrificed on the current administration’s altar of racial justice.A lieutenant colonel in the Space Force has been removed from his post — after he went on a podcast to claim that Marxism is invading the military, according to a report.Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier was temporarily reassigned after going on a podcast and touting his book, “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military,” according to military.com.“This decision was based on public comments made by Lt. Col. Lohmeier in a recent podcast,” a Space Force spokesman told the outlet.“Lt Gen. (Stephen) Whiting has initiated a command directed investigation on whether these comments constitute prohibited partisan political activity,” the statement said.
We were so impressed, not only with Lohmeier’s book, which totally blows the lid off the military’s obsession with racist and radical “woke” ideologies, but also with Lohmeier himself, who epitomizes everything honorable about the U.S. military, that we held a live seminar with Lohmeier last December called Saving the Military Service Academies from Wokeness.
The video from the event is here, and is totally worth watching:
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed Lohmeier’s book and the above seminar, to the point that I went out of my way, while on vacation in June in Arizona, to attend a live event where Lohmeier unveiled the trailer for the movie being made about his firing.
I wrote about it here: Matthew Lohmeier – a Tour de Force Supporting our Military Members.
Here is a picture of Lohmeier from the event:
The trailer was awesome, and while it is still being tweaked prior to public release, Lohmeier said the movie should be released sometime in 2024, and I for one can’t wait.
Anyway, now the person who, as mentioned above, fired Lohmeier, Space Force Lieutenant General Stephen Whiting, has been nominated by President Biden to lead the U.S. Space Command, a multi-service command in charge of all U.S. space operations.
And Whiting was grilled pretty hard by Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and surprisingly “declined to endorse the Biden administration’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the military at a Senate hearing” last Wednesday:
From a transcript of the hearing provided by Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services (STARRS):
Sen. Eric Schmitt: Lieutenant Colonel Lohmeier said, our DEI industry and trainings we’re receiving in the military via the industry are rooted in critical race theory, which is rooted in Marxism. He was relieved of his command for those statements, correct,Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting: Senator, that’s correct.Schmitt: By you, right?Whiting: Senator, there were other comments regarding specific political parties that are in addition to what you just quoted.Schmitt: This was from the podcast, which was cited by you. So I’m asking, is opposition to DEI partisan political speech?Whiting: Senator, no, it’s not, unless it advocates for a specific political party or candidate.Schmitt: Okay, well, I would agree with that. So your testimony today is Lieutenant Colonel Lohmeier was relieved for something other than these statements on the podcast, or was that part of your consideration?Whiting: Senator, it involved a specific quote involving a specific political party.* * *Schmitt: Okay, so there were other comments that other than this one I read to you about DEI?Whiting: Senator I think that podcast was about an hour long.Schmitt: Okay, well, we’ll follow up with some of our questions. I want to ask you, do you support DEI initiatives in the military?Whiting: Senator I support a ready, lethal force that draws from the best talent all across America.Schmitt: Okay, that’s not my question. I support that, too, but that’s not what DEI is. DEI is rooted in cultural Marxism. So I’m asking you, do you support DEI initiatives in the military?Whiting: Senator I support a merit-based approach to finding the best people across this country.Schmitt: That’s not DEI either. So do you support DEI initiatives in the military?Whiting: Senator based on how it is defined, I want to find the best people across anywhere in this country, geographically or any demographic who can support the defense of this nation.Schmitt: Do you believe that our brave military men and women should be pitted against one another based solely on their race?Whiting: No, sir, I do not.
Whiting also said he was against racial quotas for officers in the military:
Schmitt: Do you believe or do you accept the proposition that [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs nominee] General [C.Q.] Brown, in his August of 2022 memo that we should have racial quotas with officer class?Whiting: Senator, I am not aware that General Brown has said that.Schmitt: If General Brown said that we should have a reduction in number of white officers serving to 67% of officers down from I think it’s a total of 5400 officers. Do you support that?Whiting: Senator I support that promotion should be based on merit.Schmitt: Okay, so you don’t support the idea that we would have racial quotas for the officer class?Whiting: That’s correct, Senator.
Whiting also said that any political partisanship in the military would hurt recruiting and that “the military must be rigorously apolitical and nonpartisan.”
And on the military service members kicked out for refusing to get the COVID vaccine:
Schmitt: Do you think we should actively recruit those 8500 people who were fired for not getting the vaccine?Whiting: Sir, I would like to see those individuals who can come back apply to come back, yes, sir.Schmitt: Do you think we should recruit them to come back?Whiting: Yes, sir.
The video of the hearing is here, with Whiting’s short introductory speech starting at 6:10 and lasting until 10:45, and the Schmitt questioning going from 1:37:54 to 1:43:14:
My take on this is that Whiting is no fan of the DEI and CRT policies that are being jammed down the military’s throats, and fired Lohmeier because he was presented with a him or you, career survival choice, and he was unable or unwilling to sacrifice his own career to save Lohmeier’s, especially since Lohmeier made one crucial error in the podcast in question.
That podcast, L. Todd Wood’s “Information Operation” podcast, published May 7, 2021, included a statement by Lohmeier that “neo-Marxist thought has found a welcome home in the Democratic Party.” That one statement, given DOD’s policy against partisan political activity by service members, was enough for Whiting to hang his hat on in firing Lohmeier, as he indicated during Schmitt’s grilling of him at the Senate hearing. The podcast in question is available here, if you want to review it yourself, but trust me, Lohmeier does say that in the otherwise excellent podcast.
Of course, using that as his excuse for firing Lohmeier at least partly conflicts with the reasons Whiting told Lohmeier at the time of his firing, which was that he fired Lohmeier “for political partisanship while acting in an official capacity, and…for publicly criticizing his chain of command.” Lohmeier believes both reasons are false.
Lohmeier also believes General Whiting’s testimony reveals that the General “clearly demonstrated that [he] was unwilling to affirm his support for the [Defense Department’s] DEI initiatives and trainings,” and that “[h]e was asked several different ways if he supported DoD’s DEI initiatives and, instead of affirming his support, said something that nobody could disagree with; specifically, he said that he cared about developing a lethal and ready force.”
Lohmeier also thinks that Gen. Whiting shares his view that “this woke DEI push” has hurt recruitment, retention and readiness efforts in the military.
Finally, Lohmeier indicates that he faults those higher up than Whiting for his firing:
“It is unfortunate that Whiting felt sufficient institutional and cultural pressure in 2021 to make the decision to fire me for publicly sharing a nonpartisan view that he likely holds himself,” he said. “It is more unfortunate still that our senior leaders lack the courage to speak their minds despite the damage our current policies are inflicting.”
I expected, when I heard that the General that fired Lohmeier was being promoted, to find a raving left-wing partisan, but that does not appear to be the case, which is at least a partial relief going forward. Now if General Whiting can only 1.) not get fired, and 2.) find a way to actually act on what he believes and promote service members based on merit and not the color of their skin, which his boss, General C.Q Brown, seems to believe in. It would also be nice if he could minimize the amount of CRT/DEI indoctrination DOD is inflicting on service members serving in his command, and maybe even speak up about it as well.
We’ll see.
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