The Pentagon is set to experience significant overhauls in military leadership and structure as President-elect Donald Trump readies himself for his second term. The president-elect has indicated that he would overhaul the military by targeting what he describes as “woke” generals, a change that could lead to a full shift in the U.S. armed forces.
Resistance and Loyalty Concerns
In his first term, Trump struggled to get the Pentagon to approve a range of items on his agenda, from skepticism about NATO to proposals to use the military to suppress domestic protest. In the second term, Trump will focus more specifically on purging military officers and civilian staff whom he deems disloyal or insufficiently allied with his worldview.
“He is going to dismantle the Department of Defense, straight down the line,” Reed went on. “He is going to come in, he is going to throw out generals who get up and say something about the Constitution.”
These words were uttered from Reed about President Joe Biden and his administration, said AP news.
Cultural Divide: The ‘Woke Military’ Debate
One of the major targets is the military’s increasing diversity and emphasis on the progressive values. Throughout his election periods, he remained bitter over what he called a “woke” military, especially after military generals spoke about issues of racial justice and discrimination due to the killing of George Floyd.
“They would be gone. You can’t have a (a) woke military, Trump said when asked whether he would remove the generals.
General C.Q. Brown: A Potentially Targeted Individual
C.Q. Brown, a General from the U.S. Air Force, and Chairman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff is one of the people in the firing line. Brown is very well respected as a leader who has been an advocate for diversity and issues of discrimination in ranks. What might land him hot with Trump’s administration, however, is that he is generally politically neutral with most social justice issues.
In response to the questions, Navy Captain Jereal Dorsey, Brown’s spokesman, said, “The chairman, along with all of the service members in our armed forces, remain focused on the security and defense of our nation and will continue to do so, ensuring a smooth transition to the new administration of President-elect Trump.”
Loyalty and Allignment to the Vision of Trump
Also voicing his opinion regarding disloyalty in the military ranks, J.D. Vance was a vice president-elect in the Trump campaign. Interviewing him, it reflected the need to remove from their positions people who oppose the president’s vision of change, stating, “If the people in your own government aren’t obeying you, you have got to get rid of them and replace them with people who are responsive to what the president’s trying to do.”
Such rhetoric with promises to roll back the rename of military bases and restore the name of a Confederate general underlines his stand against what he apparently perceives as “woke” military leadership.
Ban on Transgender Military and Anti-Woke Messaging
He further targeted the transgender service members during his campaign, stating that he was going to bar them from military service and promoting a “woke-free” military. He ran campaigns advertising transgender troops as weak in order to drive his message home: “WE WILL NOT HAVE A WOKE MILITARY!”
Military in Domestic Policy
He has indicated the military may be used in a more dramatic way to enforce his home priorities: perhaps even deploying the National Guard for mass deportations, or maybe even deploying active duty troops for domestic unrest. This has raised questions about whether such a policy could sully American public trust in the military and blur the lines between military and political objectives.
Outgoing Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed the military “will respect all lawful orders,” but analysts note that Trump retains significant latitude to define what those laws are. “There is a pervasive public misconception that members of the armed forces can decide not to obey sinful orders. And that’s actually not true,” said Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute.
Purging Civil Servants: An Even Bigger Agenda
Beyond targeting military leaders, President Trump’s second term may also bring a purge of career civil servants in the Department of Defense. Allies of the president-elect express a desire to replace thousands of civilian employees with ideologically aligned individuals who share his policies.
“I am deeply concerned about their ranks,” said one anonymous U.S. defense official, who fears job security as the purge anticipated looms in.
The Trump campaign further outlined plans to “eviscerate” the federal workforce, replacing entrenched bureaucrats with loyalists. Concern has been raised by Pentagon employees as the purge may dilute the technical expertise that department performs at and impair its overall performance.
Impact on Pentagon Expertise
One anonymous defense official expressed worries over the long-term effects of ridding the armed services of seasoned military officers and career civil servants. “This will be 2016 on steroids,” the official stated, cautioning that Trump’s planned reforms could “hollow out the ranks and expertise in a way that will do irreparable damage to the Pentagon.
That some of the elimination could affect the rational process of clearing out military leaders sparks chaos among the armed forces. However, a U.S. military official downplayed fears by saying that military officers are basically more concerned with being war-fighters rather than being involved in politics and political agendas.
“What these guys will come to find out is that military officers are broadly war-fighting and not political,” the official says. “I think they’ll be happy with that-or at least they ought to be.”
(Includes inputs from online sources)
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