I have a couple of comments on the entire Matthew Lohmeier affair, the Space Force Lieutenant Colonel who lost his command for publishing an “unpublished” book about current cultural “re-education” in the military. I’ve already alluded to the fact that this kind of reproach was coming and now it is happening. Having examined this story, I’ve concluded that all Lohmeier did was run afoul of the military’s official “company line” on this subject.
That’s something I used to do on a regular basis as editor of the professional journal of the Air Force. We did it to enliven the professional dialogue—and it worked. Unless his book contained some classified information, I’m convinced his ideas normally wouldn’t result in his loss of command. My job was never at risk then. But these are not normal times. Even if it did, that removal from his position would likely be handled at the noise level—his immediate boss, a Colonel, would have done it.
But no, his removal from command was handled by a three-star general, which signals much more is going on here. And that message is chilling to those who are conservative and intent on holding to their values as they swore an oath to do. What’s more, an investigation has been launched into whether Lohmeier engaged in partisan political activity. Servicemembers have seen through this smokescreen. And this is the kind of incident that gives some academics and their liberal readers great pause for concern for the future of civil-military relations in this country.
They shouldn’t be worried that much. After the end of the ban on open service for homosexual military personnel in 2010, many people wrote me that service in the Armed Forces was no longer about duty, honor, and country, but rather about accelerating social change. Values-driven conservatives left quietly in significant numbers—just how many we’ll never know. That number became the new “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Now, Lohmeier is apparently hearing from thousands as well. These values-driven conservatives are mission-oriented and place service before self. Who they are personally and politically does not matter. They just want to serve their country. Like me, many have spent a career in the military trying to preserve the American way of life for their families. Now they’re spending their time trying to keep the American way of life away from their families.
All the tinkering that liberals have done to our armed forces has driven away good, decent warfighters, and we’re left with a force that not many nations respect or fear. While we care about black lives, those other countries don’t. They don’t care that Pentagon leaders are pushing critical race theory in a bid to force social re-education in the ranks. They have Israel and Taiwan in their gunsights.
Those foreign nations have noted that our government leaders are so afraid of principled, values-driven people in this country that they surround government buildings in Washington DC with defenses to fend off any “white supremacists” and then billet military members in a parking garage. The flower children of the 1960s have grown up, and the “white supremacists” they fear resemble their old parents. And now the flower children are running the government, seeking autonomy for their value-less agenda, and wanting those rich conservatives to pay for it. And maybe, just maybe along the way, they can convince a few thousand more values-driven service members to leave our Armed Forces.
Military members are instructed in our nation’s great war colleges that “war is a continuation of politics by other means.” Don’t be surprised then when our government leaders mistake values-driven conduct such as speaking real truth to power, which apparently Lohmeier did here, for partisan political activity. But Lohmeier doesn’t look like their parents. He’s cogent, articulate, and driven by values and his oath of office. He’s young, persuasive and right. He looks good on camera. We can’t have that. No wonder they had to take him down a notch. You can almost hear them say, “Let’s get a three-star to do it.”
And, none of this plays well in the ranks. The rank-and-file military member knows better. They place their lives on the line for truth, and they know what truth is when they see it. This lame attempt to persuade military members that the country didn’t start in 1776, and “Marxism isn’t so bad after all” is going to take more than a briefing or two. Perhaps our leaders should now look at tweaking their re-education curricula to address that, if they can stop printing money long enough to do so. My sense is that they do not place the same value on their oaths of office. Would they be willing to die for their country? Would you?
One more thing. I pray for my government leaders every day and likely these values-driven military members do as well. If our oaths mean anything, it’s that we fear God more than the people for whom we pray. Honoring one’s oath to the Constitution is the “problem” with Lohmeier and thousands of men and women in the military. If that’s something our government leaders are trying to deconstruct, then we know how to pray for them more specifically.
But if younger generations of our military are now coming forward, articulating duty-oriented service to country and taking their oaths to the Constitution seriously enough to sacrifice their careers, then that’s something I find most encouraging. That’s something foreign nations should respect and fear.