Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) serves as the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee and has had enough of the liberal politics trying to stick their big snout into the way the military is being run. Introducing a bill on June 6th that will force President Biden to abandon his already stated goal of basing promotions and career advancement more on race and gender than on merit.
Titled the “Military Merit, Fairness, and Equality Act of 2023,” it would ultimately forbid the Department of Defense (DOD) from applying any sort of force on troops, their family members, and civilian employees to “personally affirm, adopt, adhere to the tenet that any sex, race, ethnicity, religion or national origin is inherently superior or inferior.”
As the bill reads: “The tenets of critical race theory are antithetical to the merit-based, all-volunteer, military that has served the country with great distinction for the last 50 years. All Department of Defense personnel actions, including accessions, promotions, assignments, and training, shall be based exclusively on individual merit and demonstrated performance.”
One major conflicting point that this bill would hold rule over is the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) from critical race theory (CRT) that President Biden has tried to instill. As Wicker has explained, these DEI pillars of CRT are proving to be completely disastrous and try to claim the military has a diversity problem.
The fact of the matter is any unit worth its salt has people of all ages, races, sexes, and backgrounds working, living, and eating together. These men and women go along to get along and eventually become friends with one another. On any given night off, you’ll see a Hodge podge of people who are friends that at a glance have no reason to be together. This mixture is what makes the military work so well and work in a way civilians just don’t understand.
Wicker has been pushing this agenda against racism and claims of racism all year. He wants to see the military being run without external influences telling them that they are all horrible simply for being white.
While the military has been keeping and using stats on the equal opportunity (EO) for awards and promotions for years, it is rarely acted on at the lower levels. They aren’t upgrading awards to make numbers look good or promoting someone to keep the EO NCOs off their backside.
In the officer and senior enlisted promotions, boards are where these figures are accounted for. At these levels, the promotion board scored people based on the packets in front of them. Connected to these boards are last names and races. If you spent long enough in HR, you saw people who had no business being promoted or sent to an officer’s school selected simply based on race or last name.
Having someone say “Enough is enough” is something the military has been lacking for some time. Eliminating any racial or sexual suggestions, hints, or guidelines is exactly what the military needs when it comes to promotions and career advancements. When he took it to the Senate floor earlier this year, Wicker left no doubt about what he feels is best for the US military and why the nation would be wise to take heed.
“The U.S. military is the largest and most diverse public institution in the country. For decades, it has been an engine of economic and social mobility and a place for Americans of all stripes to come together in support of a common mission. From the youngest private to the most senior general, our military is composed of Americans from every possible background you can imagine…The Department of the Defense’s new ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Strategic Plan’ aims to, and I quote, ‘ensure equitable career progression for military personnel by eliminating promotion and retention barriers.'”
