On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his plan to "restore the U.S. military to make it mission-focused once again." He also vowed to eliminate the Biden administration's "woke" political policies he says have contributed to a recruitment and military readiness crisis.
DeSantis, who has advanced pro-military policies as governor in Florida, was deployed to Iraq in 2007, serving as the legal advisor to the SEAL Team One commander, Special Operations Task Force-West in Fallujah as a Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) officer. He was first commissioned as a Navy officer while attending Harvard Law School.
"There was no greater honor than knowing I was wearing the cloth of my country when I served in the military, but our nation's once-proud fighting force has been infected and paralyzed by a political agenda," DeSantis said to a cheering crowd in Columbia, South Carolina. "It is time to rip the woke out of the military and return it to its core mission. We must restore a sense of confidence, conviction, and patriotic duty to our institutions — and that begins with our military."
His four-part plan includes 1) "ripping political agendas" out of the military, 2) restoring military standards, 3) "breaking the swamp" and promoting accountability, and 4) turning the tide against "Biden's military recruitment crisis."
His plan eliminates "Diverse-aucrats" (diversity bureaucrats) and all diversity and inclusion policies, programs and positions. It includes ending drag shows on military bases and revoking Executive Order 14004, "which allows transgender personnel to serve in the military in their preferred sex and provides taxpayer funds for sex change hormones and surgeries, which cause issues with readiness."
It also prohibits the Department of Defense from hiring advertising firms that blacklist conservative news sources, closes diversity and equity offices and reforms the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness "to focus on the critical challenges facing the military such as recruiting, retention, and healthcare."
