Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) said there is a “disconnect” between the Air Force Academy’s leadership on its woke initiatives and the outrage felt by parents of cadets, during an exclusive interview with Breitbart News after a briefing from academy officials Wednesday.
Waltz requested the briefing after obtaining slides of training for cadets that suggested that they use different words to describe parents other than “mom and dad.”
One slide instructed cadets to use “inclusive language.” It said:
- Recognize diverse family formation
- “Parents/Caregivers/Guardians” instead of “Mom and Dad”
It also said not to use “colorblind” or say “I don’t see color” or “we’re all just people.”
Waltz said the Air Force Academy’s position was that it was teaching cadets “sensitive language,” such as using “partner” instead of “boyfriend” or “girlfriend,” or “parents” instead of “mom and dad.”
He said they argued it was not a directive, and that it was just “to create awareness amongst the cadets,” many of whom may have never encountered a transgender person before but may at some time in their command, and this was “just another tool in the toolkit.”
Air Force Academy cadets salute during the national anthem at Falcon Stadium for their graduation ceremony on May 25, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
However, Waltz said there is a “disconnect between what we are hearing from Pentagon leadership along those lines, and the concern and outrage coming from cadets and their parents who are bringing this stuff to us as problematic.”
“They should have an open door policy where cadets are comfortable saying, ‘This training is going too far. This is too directive. I feel like you’re ordering me not to call my mom,'” he said. “They feel like if they do speak out they’ll be canceled because of it.”
A graduating Air Force Academy cadet straightens his cap during the graduation ceremony. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Waltz said he welcomes diversity and equal opportunity in the military, but does not support Critical Race Theory in the military.
“Of course, we want the United States military open and providing equal opportunity to all members. That is very different. And I think we’re on a slippery slope to having a social agenda to looking at the military through the lens of race and skin color. And at the end of the day, my mission as a ranking member of [the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee] is to have a military and an Air Force that’s focused on putting bombs and bullets on bad guys. Period. And so it’s much more about standards and mission than it is, you know, race, social economic background, or religion,” he said.
“Where we settled is, how about we have language that instructs all cadets as leaders to show respect for all walks of life in America that they may find under their command? And I think if anybody had seen that on a [training] slide, that no one would have any issue. So I hope that’s where we left it. I hope the department Air Force and the Air Force Academy got that message loud and clear,” he said.
He said the Air Force Academy cannot be so worried about offending cadets that it ends up offending people with a religious or traditional family background, which many of its recruits have. Waltz said Republicans plan to direct the Pentagon via the National Defense Authorization Act to collect information on the effect woke initiatives are having on recruiting.
“The outstanding question, which we need to get to the bottom of as a committee, is we are seeing recruiting tanking — it’s the worst recruiting year since Vietnam. We are seeing applications to the [military] academies drop 28 to 30 percent. And if you understand that the military’s traditional recruiting places — the Midwest and the South, which tend to be more conservative areas — to what extent is it this slide towards wokeness?”
“I can tell you anecdotally, our phones are ringing off the hook in terms of calls and concerns about these issues. But one of the things we will look to in the future is to put in the defense bill for the Pentagon to gather data,” he said.
He concluded, “To me, it is a very fine line between teaching when it comes to CRT teaching it as history, as just one theory amongst many theories, like eugenics or what have you, and it sliding into our present-day diversity, equity, and inclusion training as indoctrination. And to the extent that we find out that it’s the latter, we are going to take action on it in future defense bills.”
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