By Capt Tom Burbage, US Navy ret

Many years ago a number of fault lines began covertly penetrating the foundation of our Constitution and our American principles. A major one began with the infiltration of the Marxist ideology into our Institutions of higher learning, particularly the Ivy League Universities.

As graduates became teachers in lower level schooling programs, the Marxist virus began the slow infection of our children and changed the traditional patterns of learning.

Pride in America, patriotism and belief in a higher being left the curricula. The pandemic forced a change in the learning dynamic as children participated virtually and parents could look over their shoulder and see what was being taught. It became clear that trust in the school systems was ill founded.

These were the early indications of a new agenda being forced on America by a dark force, funded by extraordinary resources of a very few and supported by a political agenda that most Americans did not fully understand or embrace.

A second fault line began with the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act that expanded the role of women in the military to include ground combat, including infantry and special forces. Failing to recognize the basic biological differences required to succeed in basic combat began the reduction in standards and the erosion of our military fighting edge.

The NDAA also began the movement from meritocracy (best candidate succeeds) to equity (equal outcomes trumps the best candidate) by directing all government agencies to begin the transition to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion movement. Ingraining these principles in the military institution is contradictory to the military ethos and requires incentives in the highest levels of leadership to make it a reality. The NDAA ensured that new criteria became imbedded in the selection criteria for the most senior ranks of the military services requiring Congressional approval.

A third fault line began with the mandated vaccines associated with COVID. The vaccine has attributes that are challenged by religious and general health concerns. In the military, a significant number (in the thousands), have not agreed to take the vaccine. Many of these individuals are highly trained (USAF F-22 pilots; U.S. Navy SEALS), very fit individuals with very valid concerns about the vaccine.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case but the timetable was recently delayed due to animosity following the Dobbs v Jackson decision until next year. In the interim, a number of these individuals are being kept in a detention environment, performing menial tasks. Some are reportedly being kept in deplorable conditions now with no end in sight. Similarities to ‘prisoners’ still awaiting sentencing in DC jails for their January 6 actions?

So, how do all these complex faults come together and result in the inevitable earthquake that finally shifts the tectonic plates to the utopia some see in our future? They don’t.

We now exist in a world where patriotism has been lost on the next generation.

Recruiting has become an unwinnable challenge while we are simultaneously forcing a large number of mid-career, highly trained warriors into unwanted discharges for refusing to take a questionable vaccine. Tens of thousands no longer in the pipeline, tens of thousands being discharged. We are on the path to a very hollow force.

Our military remains a national security requirement and has been dependent on an all-volunteer force for the last two decades. That may have to change and a draft, now including women, may well take its place. It will be a rude awakening for a generation raised on safe spaces, support animals and divisive rhetoric.

So what are we doing?

The Calvert Group initiated an awareness campaign several months ago. Our 200+ members, distributed over 30 some states, initiated a letter writing campaign as district constituents for both new veteran Congressional candidates and incumbents. We also contacted, as groups of State constituents, Senators and Governors. To date, we have received very few responses and only a handful of meetings with supporting staff.

It is clear that our voice doesn’t matter, at least not yet.

A second passion is related to the fact that we are all Naval Academy graduates, some with generations of alumni. It is clear that our Alma Mater, and our sister academies at West Point and Air Force mirror the same concerns. The mandated infusion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion assumes the Service academies are equivalent to the Ivy League universities they try to compete with academically. In the view of most alumni, that is not the case.

The service academies are chartered to produce combat leaders, not doctors, accountants, lawyers and professional athletes. While the service academies for years were lighthouses developing the leaders of tomorrow, they have become weather vanes in the shifting winds of political social experiments.

The major fallout has been a distinct shift in recent years from being a meritocracy based culture to using equity-based criteria in critical elements of the Brigade: admissions criteria, selection for leadership positions, and selections for competitive programs.

Todays’ Service academies have a separate Dignity and Respect chain of command, safe spaces, removal of historical names, and an expansion of affinity groups based on separating midshipmen and cadets based on race, ethnicity, etc.

The quality of our leadership core and the ability to protect our nation from its adversaries has never been more threatened.    

It is clear that our voice doesn’t matter, at least not yet.

Our national leadership seems consumed with the transition to a new world order, sacrificing our Constitutional principles, despite taking oaths of office saying they will defend it.

It is clear that our voice doesn’t matter, at least not yet.

But our votes and the system that they are counted in better matter.

About the Author:

Capt. Tom Burbage is a Naval Academy graduate, former Navy Test pilot and industry leader. He is working with a group of concerned individuals to change the focus of our military and specifically our Service Academies.