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Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier was relieved of command this past week for going on a podcast to discuss his book, which critiques the rise of Marxism and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the military.
Quick Facts
The Space Force told the Washington Examiner, “This decision was based on public comments made by Lt. Col. Lohmeier in a recent podcast. Lt. Gen. Whiting has initiated a Command Directed Investigation (CDI) on whether these comments constituted prohibited partisan political activity.”
“Irresistible Revolution” is a self-published book which,
“… begins with a discussion of the greatness of the American ideal … transitions to an examination of the history and overarching narrative of Marxist ideology … and concludes by looking into the ongoing transformation of America’s military culture and military policy, while also providing a warning about where the country is headed if we choose to not make an immediate course correction.”
Lohmeier, a former instructor and fighter pilot who moved into the newly created Space Force in October 2020, said that he informed his superiors, public affairs staff, and lawyers for the military before publishing his book but was told he was not required to have it reviewed by the military. The book is currently ranked on Amazon.com as the No. 2 best-seller under military policy.
Department of Defense regulations prohibit active personnel from engaging in partisan political activity while in uniform, but personnel are allowed to discuss their views out of uniform.
“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,” Lohmeier said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a 60-day “stand down” to examine potential extremism in the military after the Capitol riot on January 6. In the wake of that decision, Lohmeier said he was given a booklet describing the Jan. 6 incident as extremism, but it made no mention of any of the riots that took place in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
He also took issue with Press Secretary John Kirby’s implication that “there are too many white pilots.”
Lohmeier said, “If you want to provide that kind of messaging to your already struggling pilot force, you can already expect to see further retention problems.”
Kirby denies making such a statement.
“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,” Lohmeier claimed. “All my interactions with senior leaders in the Air Force and in the Space Force have been very positive; they care a great deal about their people [and] the lethality of the force.”
However, he said, leaders are worried that if they don’t accept diversity training they will be scrutinized “or might not get promoted.”
Lohmeier encourages new service members to reject CRT because by the definitions outlined in DoD Instruction 1325.06, “Handling Dissident and Protest Activities Among Members of the Armed Forces,” it is also a form of extremism.
Since the book’s release, Lohmeier has received support from many active-duty personnel. “[They say,] ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you for speaking up — because we don’t have a voice anymore,’” he said.
Military personnel must be very careful about what they say publicly, particularly about superiors, but Lohmeier’s comments about CRT and its negative impact on military cohesiveness are correct. The left is seeking to embed this poisonous ideology into all of America’s institutions, including the DoD and the military services. The reality that this will make the military less effective and put our troops at increased risk means nothing to leftists; in fact, it is likely one of their objectives.
All that matters to the left is that dissension and racial unrest grow in our country, leading to the promotion of a socialist state. CRT is their favored tool for accomplishing that goal and it is easy to see why. CRT makes each person suspicious of everyone else’s motives, and it divides people into camps based on race. Its close affiliation with intersectionality means even further division based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
The point of these ideologies is to flip the supposed power structure and give power to the “oppressed.” By labeling straight white men as the oppressors, the rest of the populace is taught to hate them. CRT goes further in its lies when it insists that all “oppressors” are the “haves” while the “oppressed” are the “have nots,” which leads to a policy push to take from the oppressors to give to the oppressed. This creates a society built on envy, suspicion, racial division, hatred, and guilt.
This harmful ideology must be opposed in every facet of our society, but especially the military, which demands complete trust among its servicemembers if they are going to effectively work and fight together to protect the country and its citizens against any and all threats.
Lt. Col. Lohmeier was simply pointing out that Marxist and CRT ideologies are a clear and present threat to the trust and unit cohesion necessary for the military to successfully perform its very difficult mission. In so doing, he was looking out for the well-being of all those who serve under his command, as well as those who serve throughout the military. At any other time in this country’s history, he would have been viewed as a hero. Instead, he has lost his leadership position, and the military is the poorer for it.
