(IntegrityPress.org) – A former US Space Force lieutenant says the US Air Force Academy is employing a separate chain of command to enforce policies that align with diversity, equity, and inclusive (DEI) initiatives.
Former Space Force Lieutenant Colonel Matt Lohmeier appeared on Fox News on Saturday, July 6, and told host Joey Jones that new positions within the military academy have been created called “diversity and inclusion cadet officers,” who Lohmeier said report to a specific chain of command related to DEI.
A recent study from Arizona State University, which Lohmeier cited during his appearance on “Fox and Friends,” states that military service academies have policies to encourage cadets and staff to report private conversations that may challenge DEI initiatives and principles.
Lohmeier said that he “did experience that” himself, and that he was threatened by a fellow commander who warned that he was aware of Lohmeier’s “kind of politics” and that he would “be happy” to turn the lieutenant colonel in if he continued criticizing the DEI initiatives in private. He added that the problem “has grown far beyond” what he experienced himself.
Lohmeier was relieved of his command in May 2021 for comments he made on a podcast while promoting his book, which made claims that Marxist-inspired left-wing ideologies were spreading throughout the military. The claims led to an investigation and Lohmeier’s firing as the 11th Space Warning Squadron commander at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado.
He said the Air Force academies now use specific cadets who are assigned to monitor and report to a separate chain of command. The cadets also wear a purple braided rope on their shoulders to distinguish their rank. Lohmeier told Jones that the role reminded him of “Soviet political commissars.” He called DEI a “very dangerous” and “divisive ideology.”
Lohmeieir recounted the events leading up to his firing and said it was unfortunate that it’s considered “politically partisan” to oppose DEI initiatives. He said partisan politics wasn’t the reason he signed up to serve in the military, but that the “senior military leaders” decided to create a “climate of fear” favoring their own partisan views that support DEI.
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