Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin launched a fresh effort to root out extremism within the nation’s military ranks — signing a memo Friday that directed commanding officers and supervisors to hold a one-day stand down on the issue.
A noble idea, but I’m not sure a one-day session is going to cure the cancer that exists in an unfortunate percentage of our military personnel.
lol this is performative ass covering
Step one in fixing a problem is acknowledging that you have a problem. Seems Austin is past step one.
Austin is a low key MVP of cabinet officials. In a short time, he has fired all the Trumper appointees to defense policy boards, is implementing the restoration of transgender folks’ ability to serve in the military, has dispatched up to 1000+ military personnel to support federal vaccination sites, is restoring relations with our NATO allies, and has embarked on this initiative to clean the military out of MAGA types. And some folks on this site thought the waiver was a bridge too far…
As opposed to the encouragement of extremism in the last four years, this looks like a good start that can be evaluated and refined.
So no more Air Force?
I dunno, while reading this I felt a weight lifting from my shoulders.
The fact that this President and this military command is taking this step is an important hopeful sign.
I hope it works, and I hope it turns people from what we know is a path that’s bad for the military and bad for country. That applies to those already in the military and those wanting to get in for the wrong reasons.
The other aspect of this announcement is that it’s something that would have been inconceivable in the previous maladministration.
They will have to shut down the AF Academy, at least.
A good start would be moving the AF Academy out of Colorado Springs to a less Christo-Fascist part of the country.
ETA: Hah! @greenman66 beat me by a few seconds!
The waiver wasn’t a bridge too far, it sets in stone a bad precedent. Do we benefit in the short and medium term? Yes. Long term it is a risk. Many things can be true at the same time.
Austin had been out of the service for five years.
Had he been out for seven years, no waiver would have been necessary.
It’s relatively minor, and represents no real long-term problem.
Even Viper (of Top Gun) had the right idea about the Mission of the United States Armed Forces…an institution in which I spent all of my life until age 22.
The trick will be what happens when a soldier is identified as belonging to or friendly to extremists. Austin has put them on notice. And are there initiatives to report when something comes up? The leadership may not be aware of leanings, but those alongside that particular soldier may be.
The Academy attracted the fascist christians.
My mother grew up in Colorado Springs long before there was an Air Force, let alone an Academy. Before the Academy it was entirely different and a really nice place from what I’ve heard about it.
The Academy will likely take the fascist christians with it.
You were a soldier from day one? And I always joke that I was G.I. issued.
No it’s not. It’s acknowledging the problem publicly and letting every single person in the military, well over a million people I believe, know that there is a problem and they need to begin dealing with it. This is what adults do when they’re put in charge of a problem, they don’t laugh or make sarcastic excuses, they ensure everyone is aware of the problem so they can move forward on fixing it.
Well, if you follow Fat Tony, the plain meaning of the words of our founders do not allow for an Air Force. Or Space Force.
Article One, Section Eight.
Congress shall have the power…
To raise and support Armies…
To provide and maintain a Navy.
No mention of Flying Machines.
Western Europe (as we on this thread who grew up in the Post WWII Era know it) would not exist without George Marshall, another person who attained a very high rank in the United States Armed Forces.
Looking back, the decision to combine the North (British), West (French) and South/SouthEast (U.S.) Occupation Zones of Germany and make it into Bundesrepublik Deutschland was extremely important.
I’d be fine if he just combined the Air Force back into the Army. Like before bomber command took over.