Air Force Academy's 'Mom/dad' controversy draws renewed attention to a modern, military-wide debate
By STEPHANIE EARLS stephanie.earls@gazette.com Oct 1, 2022 Updated 8 hrs ago View Comments
The "woke wars" that have been raging in U.S. culture for the past few years have now arrived full force in military academies, as evidenced by the recent controversy over a diversity and inclusion briefing at the Air Force Academy — and the academy's defense of the program.
Academy officials say such diversity training is long overdue and will build better leaders, while critics worry about what appears to be a changing culture and focus in the military and its institutions that will be to the detriment of the nation's defenses.
One slide presented as part of the training program bore language that encouraged cadets to “recognize diverse family formation” by using broad terminology that avoided gendered references. The academy said the slide was taken out of context; cadets aren’t prohibited from using the terms “mom” and “dad,” as some news reports claimed, and the information presented as part of the training was “not intended to stand alone.”
https://gazette.com/premium/air-force-academys-mom-dad-controversy-draws-renewed-attention-to-a-modern-military-wide-debate/article_727726ca-410e-11ed-9d05-7bbf1366b02f.html