Letter on Left-Wing Extremism to the Secretary of Defense

by Matthew Martin Rosendale Sr.

MATTHEW M. ROSENDALE, SR.		1037 Longworth House Office Building
Montana		Washington, DC 20515
		(202) 225-3211
	Congress of the United States
	House of Representatives
	Washington, DC 20515-2600

May 25, 2021

The Honorable Lloyd J. Austin III
Secretary of Defense
U.S. Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301

Dear Secretary Austin:

We write to express concern about the growing trend of left-wing extremism and politicization in our armed forces. The military’s long history of standing above politics has made it one of the most respected institutions in America and enabled our armed forces to both defend the Homeland and serve as one of the bulwarks of our constitutional order. That legacy is now in jeopardy.

Under the guise of reviewing “extremism” within the ranks of the Department of Defense, it appears that political actors such as Bishop Garrison, the head of the working group tasked with defining extremist views for the Department of Defense^[1], have been given broad freedom to both catechize and root out servicemembers who will not affirm far-left doctrines.^[2] Your order for a “stand-down” to ideologically assess servicemembers^[3] appears to have been connected to these efforts.

In March of this year, the U.S. Special Operations Command, which trains and oversees special forces like the SEAL teams, Green Berets, and Delta Force, hired Richard Torres-Estrada to be their first ever Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer and announced a new “Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan” for our special forces.^[4] Days later, amid widespread backlash, he was reassigned after his vast trove of far-left social media posts came to light, one of which compared President Donald J. Trump to Adolf Hitler.

Recently the United States Army released a recruitment video titled “The Calling”^[5] which describes marching in left-wing social protests as “defending freedom,” depicts “two moms” raising a child, features a lesbian wedding, and refers to the subject of the video’s service to this country as “shattering stereotypes.”^[6] West Point has come under criticism for an anti-police, racist “Diversity and Inclusion” training that caused consternation among parents and cadets.^[7]

Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, commander of 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base, warned of the radical ideology being pushed on our military, recently stating “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.”^[8] Instead of rewarding Lt. Col. Lohmeier for sounding the alarm bell on extreme ideologies infecting the military, he was relieved of his command.^[9] This is hardly an exhaustive list.

The sole purpose of the United States Military is to protect American citizens, defend American national security interests, and to fight and win wars when necessary. We urge you to use your authority to take action to fight back against the creeping left-wing extremism in the U.S. military.

Sincerely,

Matthew Rosendale, Sr. Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Andy Biggs Member of Congress
A personal signature appears here Ronny L. Jackson Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Ted Budd Member of Congress
A personal signature appears here Jody Hice Member of Congress	Lauren Boebert Member of Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Dan Bishop Member of Congress

A personal signature appears here Randy K. Weber Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Jeff Duncan Member of Congress
Ralph Norman Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Brian Babin, D.D.S. Member of Congress
Andy Harris, M.D. Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Andrew Clyde Member of Congress
A personal signature appears here Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Russ Fulcher Member of Congress
A personal signature appears here Bob Good Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Matt Gaetz Member of Congress
A personal signature appears here Mary E. Miller Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here W. Gregory Steube Member of Congress
Barry Moore Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Clay Higgins Member of Congress

A personal signature appears here Alex X. Mooney Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Ken Buck Member of Congress
A personal signature appears here Louie Gohmert Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Brian Mast Member of Congress
A personal signature appears here Diana Harshbarger Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Chip Roy Member of Congress
A personal signature appears here Barry Loudermilk Member of Congress	A personal signature appears here Warren Davidson Member of Congress

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1. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/547447-pentagon-takes-step-toward-new-screening-procedures-to-weed-out-extremists
2. https://www.revolver.news/2021/05/bishop-garrison-pentagon-hatchet-man/
3. https://www.stripes.com/news/us/defense-secretary-will-order-military-wide-stand-down-to-address-extremism-1.660899
4. https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/03/us-special-forces-announce-1st-ever-diversity-and-inclusion-officer/
5. The film referred to here is not titled "The Calling"; it's actually titled "Emma", and is part of a film series called The Calling. (Wikisource contributor note)
6. https://www.foxnews.com/us/army-recruiting-lesbian-wedding-video-cia-woke
7. https://waltz.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=486
8. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/space-force-officer-critical-race-theory-marxism.amp
9. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/05/17/space-force-commander-marxism-military/