(USNewsMag.com) – Despite Republican complaints that the military is growing too ‘woke,’ Christine Wormuth, Army Secretary, fought back, noting that such attacks are worsening an already problematic recruitment issue. According to her, they are a prepared army rather than a woke one.
Some have criticized the U.S. armed forces for what they call woke rules, such as the emphasis placed on DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion) training and education rather than combat preparedness.
The military is now experiencing its biggest recruitment crisis in history, with all services falling short of expectations and forcing them to be inventive in their efforts to add members to the ranks.
The biggest arm of the military, the Army, has been struck the hardest by the problem, falling fifteen thousand recruits below its expectations for the fiscal year 2022. Despite officials’ hopes that they have turned the corner, the service anticipates falling short of its 2023 targets.
Wormuth identified the woke critique as a challenge for the military at a media discussion last week. She said concern over the politicization of military commanders is one factor leading to a lack of faith in the military.
The more that military commanders are forced into areas of politicization, Wormuth said, the more people will mistakenly believe that they are more political than military, despite the fact that she believes this is not the case.
However, some, such as 2024 Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, argue that the trend favoring woke values is a major factor in the current recruitment issue.
DeSantis, a veteran of the Judge Advocate General Corps of the Navy, has spoken about how he sees a change between the military then and today. Recruiting has dropped as a result of the current focus on political ideologies like DEI.
However, Wormuth contended that the issue was created more by political discourse than any military practices, although she acknowledged that there was a sense that the woke policies that have been adopted by the military were adding to their recruitment difficulties.
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