Military.com reports that Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier has been relieved of his duties pending an investigation after he appeared on a podcast and criticized the rise of Marxism in the United States military.
Lohmeier served for 14 years in the U.S. Air Force before joining Space Force among its first officers and recruits. He has written and self-published a book, Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest and the Unmaking of the American Military. He appeared on a podcast, called Information Operation, to discuss the book on May 7. He was relieved of his duties as commander of the 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado on Friday, May 14, by order of Lt. Gen. Steven Whiting. Public affairs made it clear that his comments are the reason his job now hangs in the balance.
“This decision was based on public comments made by Lt. Col. Lohmeier in a recent podcast,” a Space Force spokesperson said in an email. “Lt. Gen. Whiting has initiated a Command Directed Investigation on whether these comments constituted prohibited partisan political activity.”
Lohmeier’s temporary assignment in the wake of his removal was not immediately clear.
As an active duty military member, Lohmeier retains the freedom of speech on his own time. He may publish books. Books authored by military members may or may not be subject to review by the military depending on their content. He told Military.com that the military was aware he was publishing this book.
“I was apprised of the option to have my book reviewed at the Pentagon’s prepublication and security review prior to release, but was also informed that it was not required,” Lohmeier told Military.com in an email.
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In the book and podcast, Lohmeier questions critical race theory.
Lohmeier told Wood, the podcast host, that the beginning chapters of his book explore the history and foundation of the United States and how critical race theory — a study of how race and racism impact or are impacted by social and economic power structures and institutions — plays a role.
“The diversity, inclusion and equity industry and the trainings we are receiving in the military … is rooted in critical race theory, which is rooted in Marxism,” Lohmeier said, adding [that] it should be seen as a warning sign.
In the segment, Lohmeier said his book is not political, and is meant to alert readers to the increasing politicization of today’s armed forces, some of which he said he’d seen or experienced firsthand.
Irresistible Revoltion has debuted in a strong position and as of this writing, it is #2 and #3 in military policy on Amazon, despite the fact that within hours of Lohmeier being relieved of his command, the book was no longer searchable on the publishing giant’s website. Only a direct link to the book’s page works at this time. It is available at Barnes & Nobles and other online booksellers such as Hudson and AbeBooks.
“All my interactions with senior leaders in the Air Force and in the Space Force have been very positive; they care a great deal about their people [and] the lethality of the force,” Lohmeier said during the 34-minute interview.
However, leaders may be afraid [that] if they don’t get on board with diversity training, they will face scrutiny, “or might not get promoted,” he said, adding that liberal ideas are welcomed whereas ideas from more conservative voices are criticized or silenced.
The subject of a “woke” military has come up repeatedly in the first few months of the Biden administration. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the Navy to conduct a service-wide stand-down in February to address what the Biden administration deems “radicalism” within the ranks. The training to which the Navy subjected sailors during the stand-down was overtly political and partisan, according to sailors who spoke out against it.
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Ted Mahan spoke about it here at PJ Media:
The training we received this month was rushed through in the wake of the Washington, D.C., riot. The course, which was given in a PowerPoint deck, included a slide defining “extremism.” One would expect a broad, catch-all phrase that makes it clear that any radical activity undermining our nation or promoting criminal activity would not be tolerable.
But that would be wrong. Extremism was narrowly defined as “supremacist” beliefs only. That’s it. Nothing else. Nothing about anarchism, nothing about any group that might be found on the left. Everyone in the room – of every race, incidentally – had a collective hush as the chilling effect of this clearly biased definition dawned on our team. As one person on our team put it, “Why does the DoD only care about one kind of extremism? Why do they refuse to talk about antifa? Why is it extremist to attack a Capitol police officer, but not extremist to attack a Portland police officer?”
Sailors even had to repeat the oath of office that they take when they first join the service. That oath calls on military members to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Marxism is a belief system that is utterly incompatible with the U.S. Constitution.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby recently used his position to attack Fox News host Tucker Carlson for expressing his views of recent changes to military policy, and the official Pentagon news website piled on with a poorly written, juvenile attack against Carlson claiming that Kirby “smote” Carlson. That story is still live on the Pentagon’s official news website. It claims that the U.S. military’s strength derives primarily from its “diversity,” not its commitment to defend America’s people and values, its unity, its training, its innovation, its tactics, its equipment, or the quality of members who choose to serve in the all-volunteer forces.
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Joe Biden never served in the military. He has been a politician for nearly 50 years. One of his sons did serve honorably but the other, Hunter Biden, had strings pulled to get him an officer position in the Navy. Hunter Biden wasted that opportunity, failed a cocaine test, and was booted from the military. The nature of his discharge has still not been disclosed.
Having served on active duty in the Air Force myself, nothing about the first months of the Biden administration disturbs me more than the politicization of the military. It’s extremely dangerous and unnecessary, and very likely to lead to toxic divisions within the ranks and a far less effective military just when China and other threats are rising around the world. It may also create more division between the American people and the men and women in the military.
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