At Connecticut Event, Anti-Woke Veterans Group Decries Destruction of U.S. Military

JAMES NAULT MAY 24, 2024 8:00 AM

I had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by the local VFW Post in Guilford, Connecticut on May 21 and featuring as its guest speaker Lieutenant General Rod Bishop (U.S. Air Force – Retired (pictured above at the event)), Chairman of the Board of STARRS (Standing Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services), a group of “Veterans standing against CRT/Woke ideology in the military and service academies.”

For those unfamiliar with STARRS, I recommend watching this short, three-minute video explaining their mission and focus:

Essentially, STARRS (and I, as a member), believe that our military is in the process of being gutted by an administration that places incorrect and unseemly priority on all things WOKE at the expense of mission readiness.

And, as General Bishop explained, this situation is getting worse all the time, which for some people, including a great friend of mine who I served with on my first submarine, is hard to believe. But there is proof, in two forms.

First are the daily headlines, which we have reported on almost weekly for years now:

• Woke Military Struggling to Reach Recruitment Goals
• Military Recruitment Crisis Underway as Biden Admin Continues Emphasis on Wokeness, Vaccine Mandates
• Cause and Effect: Military Enshrines DEI While Recruiting Tanks
• Military Experts Blame Biden Admin’s DEI Agenda for Our Shrinking Armed Forces
• USS Boxer Unable to Get Underway after Two-Year $200 Million Overhaul, Symptom of Military Readiness Problems

You get the idea, but use our search box and type in “woke military” and you’ll find dozens more for your review.

The other form of proof, which General Bishop emphasized, is anecdotal, but overwhelming, evidence from those in the military right now. From the STARRS website, which keeps a running list of these comments that they receive daily, come the following:

• “Currently in the military as O-3 [Navy Lieutenant or Army Captain] and let me tell you, it is an absolute joke. Integrity and honor are not rewarded but diversity and sexuality is.”
• “After 20 years of commissioned service, I tell folks all the time—no matter how woke you think the armed forces are, it is much worse.”
• “Every one of my former soldiers who got out did so because of this woke nonsense that harms morale and readiness.”
• “Come from a long line of people who served in the military. I did 20 years myself. My daughter has 16 years in, and my other two sons have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan but not one of them wants their children to serve in today’s military when they grow up.”
• “My transgender Station commander is personally responsible for at least 4 people deciding to get out….”
• “When DEI started to become a thing, when they started ramming down our throats how we didn’t have to just tolerate people but celebrate depravity and lunacy, that’s where they lost me.”

It absolutely breaks my heart to read the thousands (over 10,000 by General Bishop’s estimate) of such comments posted at STARRS.us

And maybe the most powerful part of General Bishop’s presentation occurred when one of the attendees, obviously a former military professional, asked what they could do to help.

The General’s main message was to get involved, however that is possible in your life, either by simply signing up to receive the free STARRS weekly newsletter, which you can do here, by talking to friends and family about the problems in today’s military, by feeding STARRS information and/or stories you hear about the military (all of their info comes from regular people who provide them with information), writing to your elected officials in Congress, or by donating to STARRS, if you have the means to do so.

See STARRS’ “A Call to Action” webpage, available here, which includes draft Congressional letters you can use, to see how you can help.

Also, visit STARRS’ “What Happened to Our Military” webpage, available here, to watch the eight-minute video, which General Bishop played for audience, describing the horrendous explosion of Woke/CRT/DEI mandates, policies, and events taking place in our military since the Biden Administration took office. It is frightening.

For some X commentary on this subject, see the following:

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