By Capt. Hung Cao, USN ret, USNA ’96

It is estimated that fewer than 23% of Americans between 17 and 22 are qualified to serve in the U.S. military. The reasons range from obesity and drug use to mental health issues.

Today, less than 1% of our nation has served in the armed forces, making the U.S. military an exclusive organization.

Yet last week, federal district judge Richard Bennett ruled that the U.S. Naval Academy’s race-conscious admissions policy did not violate the Supreme Court’s recent decision to curtail affirmative action.

Judge Bennett argued that the Naval Academy has a “compelling national security interest in a diverse officer corps.” He is only partially correct.

Never once while in combat or performing special missions underwater have I, nor any of my Special Operations brothers and sisters, ever wondered about the skin color of our battle buddy or dive buddy.

We only cared that the person next to us had our backs.

The diversity we need in our military lies in our backgrounds and what we bring to the fight, not whether we are black or white or anything in between.

I served alongside men and women who didn’t care about my skin color; they cared that I was trained, prepared, and able to lead them.

The diversity I brought to the table was in my life experiences – growing up in sub-Saharan West Africa and Southeast Asia, understanding cultures, and speaking three languages fluently.

As our leaders continue to focus on inclusivity instead of exclusivity, the military missed its 2023 recruiting goals by 41,000 recruits.

The U.S. Navy circumvented that deficit by bringing forward delayed-entry recruits. These recruits would normally be counted in the following fiscal year; however, the Navy could mask their low 2023 numbers by robbing Peter to pay Paul and leaving a larger gap for 2024.

Faced with this initial deficit for 2024, Navy leaders looked at medical conditions where 85% or more recruits eventually receive medical waivers after a thorough medical review process.

In April 2024, the chief of Navy recruiting released a two-page list of conditions that would be automatically waived, bypassing even a cursory physician’s review.

These waived conditions include “F12 – Mental and behavioral disorders due to use of cannabinoids,” whereby a recruit on medication for bipolar disorder with suicidal ideation could slip through; “M95 – Acquired deformity of musculoskeletal” allowing for a recruit with severe scoliosis to enlist, eventually requiring costly spinal surgery and full disability pay; and “S68 – Traumatic amputation of wrist, hand and fingers” potentially allowing a recruit with only one hand to enlist.

The military is not a place for social experiments.

We have the hard task of defending a nation and it requires a force ready to operate in any environment and at any time.

Professional sports teams like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL do not care about diversity, or whether their team equally represents the demographics of the city that is on their jerseys.

Professional sports teams are looking for the best of the best because winning is the only metric that matters.

Similarly, our armed services should be exclusive, with a focus on grabbing the best of the best.

Any of us in uniform would rather fight with a smaller force than one that is fully manned with people unable to complete the mission.

When I commanded the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center, we trained about 1,400 students from all five services each year.

The attrition rate was high, and I explained to the inquiring congressional delegations that the sea is unforgiving, and things like war and adversity don’t care if you’re a man, woman, black or white; it will kill you just the same.

My job was to prepare these young men and women for dangerous underwater missions. We were purposely exclusive.

It’s time for President Trump’s new military leadership team to stop the deterioration of our military readiness.

Putting America first begins with putting national security first, and creating the most lethal military full of Alpha males and Alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them, and ask for seconds.

Those are the young men and women who are going to win wars.

Our job is to defend a nation and preserve peace, and we need an exclusive team to do that.

CAPT Hung Cao, USN (Ret.), was the 2024 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Virginia.

First published on Real Clear Politics