Trump’s order to have the military return to a meritocracy-based institution is the correct decision

Trump’s order to have the military return to a meritocracy-based institution is the correct decision

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, shown at a Sept. 11 ceremony, revealed early Friday on Twitter that they are quarantining after testing positive. "We are feeling good," Melania Trump tweeted. (White House photo)

Rick Hutzel could not be more hyperbolic if he tried. Trump is not coming for the Naval Academy or any of the other military academies that we the taxpayers fund. No … what Trump is doing is driving out the mistaken notion that we need to indoctrinate those attending the academies that somehow their mission is to express their feelings and inclusiveness rather than learn to conduct violent warfare on our nation’s enemies.

The mission of the United States Naval Academy is “to develop Midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.”

The overall curriculum supports the moral and mental preparation of midshipmen and provides them with the skills and knowledge they will need to be successful as junior officers in the United States Navy and Marine Corps.  Nowhere do the words “diversity, equity, and inclusion” appear in the USNA mission statement.

You will find essentially the same for the United States Army: “To educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army.”

And again much the same for the United States Air Force Academy: “The mission of the United States Air Force Academy (USAF Academy) is to educate, train, and inspire leaders of character to serve in the U.S. Air Force and Space Force.”

No indoctrination just education. The academies – all of them need to be the very pinacol of education in this country. If our universities and colleges want to indoctrinate students with these far-left ideologies regarding wokism, transgenderism, and the notion that “diversity is our strength” then as private institutions I say let them have their way. But for the US military, we must maintain the notion that “strength is our strength” and that strength will be achieved by meritocracy no matter the color of one’s skin, religious background or family heritage.

Hutzel sought out the thoughts of Rep. Sarah Elfreth of Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District. True to the party she stated: “I believe strongly that diversity in all forms makes our institutions stronger, including the U.S. Naval Academy and our military …”. It should be noted for the record that Congressman Elfeth has never served a day in combat and has no real idea what makes us stronger. It should also be noted that the Naval Academy in correct military fashion is responding to the orders of the Commander in Chief and scrubbing the DEI curriculum from the course studies.

Trump has not ordered any right-wing ideology to be inserted into the military academy curriculum. He has only ordered the removal of the leftwing ideology and propaganda so that the academies can return to a meritocracy-based institution that will serve the country’s national security interests.

About The Author

Marc King

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Marc A. King was a 2018 Republican nominee for delegate in the Maryland Legislature from Legislative District 15. Marc has continued his political activism by providing blogs related to a variety of political activities at the federal, state and local level. A retired Army lieutenant colonel, he transitioned from the position of President, Ceradyne Armor Systems, Inc., and provides advice and assistance to defense contractors as the President and CEO of KGV Enterprises, LLC, a defense strategies consultancy.

4 Comments

  1. Katherine Larrabee

    Marc King’s recent commentary missed an opportunity to bolster the military academies’ education and readiness missions and to highlight the President’s visit to the USNA without stooping to the current practice of using divisive language such as “left-winged ideology” and to demean a congressWOMAN who thinks diversity strengthens warrior organizations. She may be right, even without combat experience on her resume. In WWII, Black airmen, female pilots, and other minority groups played key roles in assisting the war effort. My mother was a Rosie Riveter at the Washington Navy Yard. We didn’t call it DEI back then, but diversity was at work; it has been underway for decades to include people who are other than White male to add strength when and where needed.

    We who have lived in Annapolis for decades and have close ties with the USNA know diversity has long been a consideration there, beginning with the first Black midshipmen (one of whom has a building named for him), first female professor, first female mids, first woman to serve as commandant of midshipmen, and most recently the first female superintendent, a Latina.

    I’m disappointed to read this unbalanced, in-your-face commentary in the MarylandReporter, which has always focused on gathering a healthy mix of news that appears balanced and nonpartisan.

    Kathy Larrabee
    Annapolis

    Reply
  2. Frank Silver

    You could not be more right about Trump’s position on the academy, but you are absolutely wrong in stating: “If our universities and colleges want to indoctrinate students with these far-left ideologies regarding wokism, transgenderism, and the notion that “diversity is our strength” then as private institutions I say let them have their way.”

    Parents do not send their children to colleges and universities for the purpose of allowing them to be indoctrinated into believing in woke ideologies. To state that left-leaning indoctrination is perfectly okay with you suggests you are very much out of touch with what either Trump or the responsible parents of believe to be the mission of our institutions of higher education.

    Reply
  3. Kennardn Wiggins

    Who establishes the standards for a meritocracy? What criteria would you test? In a bell curve of “merit” would only the right hand quartile qualify? Would the blessings of our democracy apply only to this privileged few? This meritocracy that you speak of suggests, for example, that there should be no special veteran’s preference for civil service jobs, unless they passed your ideology test. .

    Reply
  4. Dr. Suzie Burke bebee

    Mr. King – so, do you want to go back to Oct 7th 1974? As a fellow Marylander, FYI we’re in the 21st century.

    Reply

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