Under this administration, the US military has been undergoing a fundamental transformation, and not for the better. While the world seems to grow ever more dangerous, the US military is being disfigured into something less than the world’s pre-eminent fighting force. Liberal social engineering is working hard to create a military which will reflect our politically correct, secular society. The purpose of our military is the national defense of our liberty and freedoms, so that this is not a good thing. Soldiers are trained to kill people and break things; burdening them with a plethora of social issues will erode discipline and detract from mission focus. What we are seeing is classic “incrementalism” in action: various, smaller changes being made over time that will have the cumulative effect of emasculating the force. Currently spread thin and hampered by budget cuts and sequestration, our deterrent power weakens daily. Such is the effect of the corrosive, divisive approach of our current CINC.

While the rules of engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq were originally a product of the Bush administration, Obama made them even more restrictive. The ability to engage the enemy was restricted by cultural sensitivities so as to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage. Soldiers had to be 100% sure it was enemy before engaging or they’d be subject to prosecution. Mosques were considered sacred places and off limits to US Forces entry, even when they were being fired upon from the mosque! Other restrictions were imposed that would not allow firing upon insurgents who were planting IED’s because they “might be farmers.” Sure, “farmers” working at night on a road, digging holes and putting objects in the holes, covering them up and slinking away. How does a soldier do his job with his hands tied and his judgment questioned? Why not just paint a bullseye on his chest and send him out to pose.

What else has this enlightened administration done to further erode military discipline and cohesion? The President has eliminated Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, allowing gays to openly serve in the armed forces. Additionally, the Defense of Marriage Act has also been gutted by SCOTUS’ ruling on Section Three, which had defined marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. In twisted testimony to both rulings, two gay male officers were recently wed at the chapel at West Point. Soldiers now have a new reality to contend with – one that can serve to disrupt unit discipline and morale and can detract from mission focus.

Women have been given clearance to serve in direct combat military occupational specialties (MOS). By January, 2016, the integration of women into infantry, artillery and armor units will begin. While the ability of women to fight is not in question (they have already been in the midst of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan for years), it is the discipline within front line combat units that will likely become problematic. Sexual assaults in the military have been on the rise; integrating women into combat units will increase the likelihood that such assaults will occur more frequently.

To all this social engineering, add the curtailment of religious freedom in the military and the service academies. Rabid atheists with little to do besides find more ways to remove faith from the public sector altogether, are making the case to remove God from service academy oaths. They seek to restrain chaplains’ activities, making it punishable to proselytize a soldier seeking help or advice. While atheists invoke the separation clause as often as they blink, they are on a blitzkrieg to eliminate God, primarily Christianity, from the fabric of American life. If they can get the support of government, they will be successful. To eliminate all traces of God from the military, where the stress of combat and the strain of deployment on families creates real hardship, would be criminal.

There has been a spate of articles of late in Investor’s Business Daily, Washington Times and a host of other publications that highlight what seems to be a “purging” of the officer corps. Some 197 senior officers have been fired since 2009. Some have been relieved for cause, like sexual misconduct. Others have been fired for such spurious reasons as “loss of confidence” or “insensitive remarks.” Is it because of budget constraints that the CINC is eliminating the most highly paid officers? Or could it be something a bit more sinister? Is Obama purging the military so that all that remain are totally compliant?

Look at this thinning of the officer corps in the context of all the changes affecting the military that Obama has wrought over the past five years. Everything points to the diminution and the politicization of our armed forces and consequently, our national defense capability is being eroded. America is losing status as the bastion of strength, liberty, and freedom in the world. Other nations hesitate to turn to us for leadership as the President’s credibility wanes with each faux pas he precipitates. The “shining beacon on the hill” that President Reagan so gloriously opined throughout his presidency no longer lights the way to liberty, freedom and democracy.

John T. Brown
@RedCav on Twitter