Letter to the Hon. Lloyd J. Austin III, Secretary of Defense - Rep. Rosendale Calls to Fight Back Against Left-Wing Extremism and the Politicization of our Military

Letter

Dear Secretary Austin:

We write to express concern about the growing trend of left-wing extremism and politicization in
our armed forces. The military's long history of standing above politics has made it one of the
most respected institutions in America and enabled our armed forces to both defend the
Homeland and serve as one of the bulwarks of our constitutional order. That legacy is now in
jeopardy.

Under the guise of reviewing "extremism" within the ranks of the Department of Defense, it
appears that political actors such as Bishop Garrison, the head of the working group tasked with
defining extremist views for the Department of Defense, have been given broad freedom to both
catechize and root out servicemembers who will not affirm far-left doctrines. Your order for a
"stand-down" to ideologically assess servicemembers appears to have been connected to these efforts.

In March of this year, the U.S. Special Operations Command, which trains and oversees special
forces like the SEAL teams, Green Berets, and Delta Force, hired Richard Torres-Estrada to be
their first ever Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer and announced a new "Diversity and
Inclusion Strategic Plan" for our special forces. Days later, amid widespread backlash, he was
reassigned after his vast trove of far-left social media posts came to light, one of which compared
President Donald J. Trump to Adolf Hitler.

Recently the United States Army released a recruitment video titled "The Calling" which
describes marching in left-wing social protests as "defending freedom," depicts "two moms"
raising a child, features a lesbian wedding, and refers to the subject of the video's service to this
country as "shattering stereotypes." West Point has come under criticism for an anti-police,
racist "Diversity and Inclusion" training that caused consternation among parents and cadets.

Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, commander of 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force
Base, warned of the radical ideology being pushed on our military, recently stating "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."

Instead of rewarding Lt. Col. Lohmeier for sounding the alarm bell on extreme ideologies infecting the military, he was relieved of his command. This is hardly an exhaustive list.

The sole purpose of the United States Military is to protect American citizens, defend American
national security interests, and to fight and win wars when necessary. We urge you to use your
authority to take action to fight back against the creeping left-wing extremism in the U.S.
military.