by Jamie McIntyre, Senior Writer |
| May 17, 2021

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION? OR MARXIST INDOCTRINATION: The decision to relieve a junior Space Force commander of his responsibilities at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, is fueling growing debate about whether Marxist ideology is poisoning the apolitical tradition of the U.S. military.

In an interview on the Steve Gruber Show podcast, Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier said, “Since taking command as a commander about 10 months ago, I saw what I consider fundamentally incompatible and competing narratives of what America was, is, and should be that wasn't just prolific on social media or spreading throughout the country during this past year, but it was spreading throughout the United States military, and I had recognized those narratives as being Marxist in nature.”

"Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, Space Operations Command commander, relieved Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier of command of the 11th Space Warning Squadron, Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, May 14, due to loss of trust and confidence in his ability to lead," the Space Force said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

"My intent never has been to engage in partisan politics. I have written a book about a particular political ideology (Marxism) in the hope that our Defense Department might return to being politically nonpartisan in the future as it has honorably done throughout history," he told Military.com.

Lohmeier said he was asked to train his troops with extremism training and was given a “70-page” booklet of “talking points.”

"The diversity, inclusion and equity industry and the trainings we are receiving in the military ... is rooted in critical race theory, which is rooted in Marxism," he said.

RETIRED OFFICERS WARN OF ‘HARD LEFT TURN’: The flap over Lohmeier’s book comes just days after 124 retired generals and admirals released an open letter warning the nation is in “deep peril,” with ”supporters of Socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty.”

The letter is signed by a number of well-known conservative retired senior officers, including Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, who is running for the Senate in New Hampshire, Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who was deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence during the administration of President George W. Bush, and Vice Adm. John Poindexter, deputy national security adviser for President Ronald Reagan.

“Under a Democrat Congress and the Current Administration, our Country has taken a hard left turn toward Socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government which must be countered,” the letter says.

The group calling itself “Flag Officers 4 America” also accused the Biden administration of “using the U.S. military as political pawns with thousands of troops deployed around the U.S. Capitol” and “forcing politically correct policies like the divisive critical race theory into the military.”

The retired officers also question President Joe Biden’s “mental and physical condition” as commander in chief. “He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night.”

The letter was denounced by former Joint Chiefs Chairman retired Adm. Mike Mullen. “I think it hurts the military and by extension it hurts the country," Mullen told Politico, describing it as replete with "right-wing Republican talking points."