Hundreds of Troops Complain About ‘Woke’ Racism, Extremism Training, Cotton Claims
Senator confronts Austin, releases list of purported examples of Black Lives Matter advocacy, anti-white male bias, and diversity efforts.
JACQUELINE FELDSCHER | JUNE 11, 2021
PERSONNEL PENTAGON CONGRESS
During a drill weekend, unit leaders held a stand down on race—a pause in their usual training—where they taught troops about white supremacy and the importance of staying apolitical on social media. But one service member balked at the training’s focus on far-right extremist groups, not other organizations like Black Lives Matter or Antifa.
“Anyone who has been face to face with them during the riots will tell you they are in fact well organized militant hate groups,” the service member wrote. “However, we are encouraged to stand with them, but not groups that stand for the Constitution.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., says this is one of more than two dozen stories that show the military has gone too far with what another service member called “fake wokeness.” In a memo from Cotton to the Senate Armed Services Committee obtained by Defense One, the senator includes 28 written complaints from troops, which could not be independently verified, about training sessions and regulations that service members argue paint the military as fundamentally racist and support left-leaning groups while labeling conservative movements as extremist. Cotton and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, two weeks ago set up a public whistleblower site inviting service members to complain about “woke ideology” in the military.
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/06/hundreds-troops-complain-about-woke-racism-extremism-training-cotton-claims/174672/
