Chris Lieberman, FISM News
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The U.S. Pacific Air Force (PACAF), the division of the Air Force tasked with confronting China, has instructed its leaders to stop using pronouns or references to age or gender when describing soldiers in official documents such as performance reviews or recommendations for awards.
In a May email to leaders at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, PACAF wrote,
In accordance with the Diverse PACAF priority, ‘We must embrace, promote, and unleash the potential of diversity and inclusion. Competition against near-peer adversaries requires a united focus from the command, the joint team, and our international partners. Welcoming and employing varied perspectives from a foundation of mutual respect will improve our interoperability, efficiency, creativity, and lethality,’ do not use pronouns, age, race, etc.
The Pacific Air Force — which is the branch tasked with confronting China — banned all references to gender, age, and race.
The Free Beacon obtained a copy of the order, which lists "he/she," "male/female," and "youngest/oldest" as examples of "unauthorized" terms. pic.twitter.com/b9s6aj7UyJ
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 31, 2022
The email includes a list of “unauthorized examples,” such as, “He/she did…” and “Best Male/Female…”, and “authorized examples,” including, “This sergeant…” and, “This member…”.
A spokesman for the Anderson Air Force Base explained that the Air Force is shifting “to a narrative writing format for awards and performance reports,” and that the change is “intended to eliminate any information that could identify the nominee’s name, gender, age, or race so that all members had a fair and equal chance at winning.”
“Unleashing the potential of diversity and inclusion at all levels is a Pacific Air Forces’ priority and something we strive for at Andersen,” said the spokesman. “Diversity and inclusion are force multipliers and warfighting imperatives that enable our competitive advantage against near-peer adversaries.”
However, some believe that moves like this are a waste of time as the U.S. faces a number of threats abroad. Rebeccah Heinrichs, a defense policy expert and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank, told the Beacon, “It is painful to think about the amount of time servicemen have already spent writing these rules instead of figuring out how to beat China. Somebody needs to remind DoD leadership that they’re in the business of preventing and winning wars and not in the Oberlin lounge.”
This latest change is part of a trend that the Biden administration claims will make the armed forces stronger through diversity and inclusion, but which critics say reflect questionable priorities that put a woke agenda over military readiness. This push includes a Naval training video instructing troops on pronoun use, ads featuring rainbow bullets during Pride month, and hosting a drag queen story event for kids at an Army base.
At the same time, the military is facing a major recruitment shortfall, with numbers at their lowest since the Vietnam War. While the Biden administration blames the Covid-19 pandemic, a competitive jobs market, and an increasing number of ineligible Americans, others point to the administration’s far-left agenda, vaccine mandates, and the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.