How Obama Transformed the Military 
Force levels have been diminished to those not seen since before WWI

By James A. Lyons
WashingtonTimes.com

The Destruction of National Security Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

There is no question that America’s worldwide leadership, power and influence have been significantly degraded over the last seven and a half years. The basic reason, regretfully, is that President Obama has been very successful in the implementation of his goal to fundamentally transform America. In so doing, he has undercut the Judeo-Christian foundation of this great country while at the same time promoting the advancement of Islam throughout our society — including the U.S. military. Clearly, any thinking American understands that this transformation, at its core, is anti-American and anti-Western. Yet it is also pro-Islam, pro-Iranianand pro-Muslim Brotherhood. Compounding this travesty is Mr. Obama’s decision to embrace our sworn enemies. Unbelievable.

When you want to take a country down, first you neutralize its military capability. Craig Luther, who served as a civilian historian with the U.S. Air Force for nearly 30 years, addresses this treasonous situation in unmistakable terms in his April 22, 2016 Front Page magazine article. While he primarily discusses the evisceration of the U.S. Navy by Secretary Ray Mabus, Mr. Luther’s article actually applies to all of the services. Mr. Obama’s relentless transformation of the military while ignoring the instability and worldwide threats we face has not only been dangerous, it has jeopardized our national security. Our force levels have been diminished to levels not seen since prior to World War II. In the U.S. Navy’s case, levels such as these have not been seen since World War I. This unilateral disarmament is being done under the guise of sequestration, an Obama administration initiative. Furthermore, the all-volunteer force is being decimated by forcing out tens of thousands of well-qualified male personnel under the guise of diversity.

One of the first “cultural” norms attacked was to destroy the moral underpinnings of themilitary by the removal of the “Don’t Ask — Don’t Tell” mandate. This has led to the forced acceptance of open homosexuality. It has had a clear negative impact on unit integrity, cohesiveness and retention. The propaganda statements by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter that this transformation has been a great success are nonsense! In 2014, there were over 10,000 “reported” unwarranted male-on-male advances. If the Mr. Carter thinks this is a great success, I’d hate to see what he thinks failure looks like.

Compounding this travesty is Mr. Carter’s decision to allow “transgender” members of themilitary to serve openly starting this year. This is unconscionable. Dr. Paul McHugh, former head psychiatrist at John Hopkins, stated in a July 12, 2015 Wall Street Journal article that our policymakers are doing a disservice to the public (and certainly to the military) by treating transgender’s confusion as a “right” rather than as a “mental disorder” that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention. He went on to state that this disorder should not be treated as a “civil rights” issue. Clearly, the military should not be burdened with this problem. In my view, embracing the “LGBT” agenda is a slow decline toward paganism.

Because of Mr. Carter’s vast military background obtained at the ivy-covered walls of Yale, he ignored countless studies and personally overruled the U.S. Marine Corps (as did Mr. Mabus), opening all combat roles to women — including infantry, artillery, special forces and Navy Seals. All of these debilitating social engineering directives are being imposed by people who, for the most part, have never served in the military and never will. Furthermore, we don’t want them to. This is all being done under the mantel of “diversity.” When you are dealing with the lives of military personnel and the security of the country, we must have the best and brightest. That used to be the standard. Nothing less should be acceptable.

The “multicultural” makeover of our military threatens to undermine the very fabric of our military forces, and is being accelerated with no apparent opposition from our military or congressional leaders. This is due in part to the fact that one of the founding principles of themilitary’s culture is that it is subjected to civilian control. This is as it should be. It highlights not only the importance, but the loyalty and high esteem that the military holds for the office of the president of the United States and his role as commander in chief. However, Mr. Obama has used the military’s founding principle of civilian control to impose his debilitating directives which are destroying the military’s warrior mentality and the “will to win.” As Mr. Luther stated, the objective appears to be that of a complete irreversible cultural transformation of our military.

Clearly, when the presidential office has been corrupted by multiple unconstitutional acts and has issued directives that have neutralized our superior military capability (e.g., restrictive Rules of Engagement that have caused the unnecessary loss of thousands of military lives and permanent injuries), then our military leaders must take a position. Silence is acceptance. Those who remain silent are complicit with the transformation and destruction of our military forces. They are violating their oath of office.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is the one institution that has the status to sound the alarm to warn the American public to stop the transformation of this great country and our military. Failure to do so would be a dereliction of duty.

• James A. Lyons, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, was commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and senior U.S. military representative to the United Nations.