1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,399 Speaker 1: Battles aren't one solely on the field. That's a common misconception. 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Battles are one within over enemies or fear, enemies of doubt, 3 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: promises to one's self, promises to one's country. In the 4 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: heart of every marine, you will find a promise, a 5 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 1: promise forever kept, A promise of battles one. 6 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 2: This is the story of a soldier who operates your 7 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 2: nation's patriot missile defense systems. It begins in California with 8 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 2: a little girl raised by two moms. Although I had 9 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 2: a fairly typical child hood, took ballet, played violin. 10 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 3: I also marched for equality. 11 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 2: I like to think I've been defending freedom from an 12 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 2: early age. I needed my own adventures, my own challenge, 13 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 2: and after meeting with an Armored recruiter, I found it 14 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 2: a way to prove my inner strength and maybe shatter 15 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 2: some stereotypes along the way. I'm US Army Corporal EMM Alonelord, 16 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 2: and I answered my calling. 17 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 4: On this episode of The Newts World, Forget everything you 18 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 4: think you know about American military culture. In their new 19 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 4: book Woke Warriors, How the Left is Destroying America is 20 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 4: about to fight and win its wars, authors Andrew and 21 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 4: Katie Tcherkowski describe how the US military, America's most powerful 22 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 4: and stif as morphed into America's most woke industrial complex. 23 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 4: From diversity, equity and inclusion policies to social justice reform, 24 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 4: preferred pronouns, and removal of tests of skill, the US 25 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 4: military is hardly recognizable to many who knew it even 26 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 4: two decades ago. More than that, dedicated service members are 27 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 4: losing their careers, their retirements, and in some cases, their 28 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 4: freedom as a result of this drastic cultural shift. Here 29 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 4: to talk about their new book, I'm really pleased to 30 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 4: welcome my guests, Andrew and Katie Tcherkaski. They are both 31 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 4: former federal prosecutors, veterans of the US Air Force, where 32 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 4: they served as judge advocate general officers prosecuting the military's 33 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 4: most serious fundly crimes. They now run their own civil 34 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 4: rights and criminal defense law firm, Golden Law. Andrew and Katie, 35 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 4: welcome and thank you for joining me the News world. 36 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 3: Thank you for having us. It's very good to be 37 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 3: with you. 38 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: You know. 39 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 4: First, I want to thank you both for your service 40 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 4: to our country. You were writing as veterans people who've 41 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 4: served and people who are passionately committed to defending America. 42 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 4: You were lawyers for the Air Force. What was that like, 43 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 4: k of was it to serve in the Air Force? 44 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 5: Well, it was a great opportunity. We both became officers 45 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 5: right after law school. We had many options that were 46 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 5: kind of available for us, and we decided instead to serve. 47 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 5: It was the middle two thousands, during our war on terrorism. 48 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 5: We were both inspired by kind of the sense of patriotism, 49 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 5: but also a very unique way to begin legal careers, 50 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 5: and so to be able to combine the ability to 51 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 5: serve with the legal education that we had had, we 52 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 5: thought that was a really neat opportunity and we both 53 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 5: gained so much from it. We have been all over 54 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 5: the world thanks to our time in the service and 55 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 5: have put away some bad people as prosecutors in the military, 56 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 5: making sure that the interests of command and good order 57 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 5: and discipline were adhered to. But we've also had the 58 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 5: unique opportunity to defend thousands of military members individually who 59 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 5: have gone through tough times and we're facing issues in 60 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 5: the military, so we're deeply integrated in the community. We've 61 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 5: visited over one hundred and twenty military bases, around the world, 62 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 5: and we still are on military bases almost every week 63 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 5: helping individual service members out with one thing or another. 64 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 4: How competitive was it to become a JAG officer. 65 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 6: Well, I don't know that I have the stats on that, 66 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 6: but I know that it is a very coveted position 67 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 6: and the reason for that. As a lawyer, I think 68 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 6: is that you get a great amount of litigation opportunity 69 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 6: as a very junior attorney, So it's very unique in 70 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 6: that sense. 71 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 3: You get to be a prosecutor. 72 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 6: Well this is again, of course before things really shifted, 73 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 6: but even as a young prosecutor, you could make decisions 74 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,239 Speaker 6: about cases that you took forward in addition to dealing 75 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 6: with a lot of operational type stuff helping base commanders 76 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 6: make decisions and review legal issues that come up just operationally. 77 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 6: So it was a very amazing experience and gives you 78 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 6: just boots on the ground experience as a lawyer right 79 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 6: out of law school. 80 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 4: When did you first begin to see the changes in 81 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 4: the military that you write about. 82 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 5: I think that we both came and certainly I came 83 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 5: into the military wide eyed and ready to go during 84 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 5: the War on terrorism, like I said, and so I 85 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 5: had no real baseline to be critical of the military. 86 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 5: I was the type of young officer that really worked 87 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 5: as well and as hard as I could for every 88 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 5: senior ranking officer that gave me orders and tried my 89 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 5: best to help support the troops that were below me 90 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,479 Speaker 5: in any sort of way. And so as I became 91 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 5: a senior prosecutor, the military saw the country's first wave 92 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 5: of the me too movement, and there was a lot 93 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 5: of complaints going through Congress about the way that the 94 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 5: military was handling the prosecution of sexual assault cases specifically. 95 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 5: Now I was there, I saw it. We were doing 96 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 5: a fine job of it. I thought that a lot 97 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 5: of justice was being done. I thought that tough cases 98 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 5: were being taken to trial and others that we didn't 99 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 5: have the baseline to do it didn't go to trial, 100 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 5: even though some people may have been disappointed about that, 101 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 5: But I saw us doing good work at the time. 102 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 5: And then I saw how Congress started to change the 103 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 5: laws and the political pressures started to mount during the 104 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 5: Obama administration to prosecute service members in a very unjust way, 105 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 5: and so I saw the wokeness really start to hit 106 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 5: in the early twenty tens with the significant increase attention 107 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 5: that was paid, especially to some of the gender dynamic 108 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 5: and the sexual assault error. But wokeness really goes much 109 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 5: further back. I think that you can pinpoint many different 110 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 5: points along the way, but a lot of that was 111 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 5: meaningful progress. I guess we could say at this time 112 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 5: there's important steps where you kind of have to decide 113 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 5: between whether it was progress or whether things went too far. 114 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 5: But now looking hindsight, we can really see that the 115 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 5: Obama administration is where things started to go kind of 116 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 5: wild with wokeness and has led to a really difficult 117 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,679 Speaker 5: place now for the surface members in our country at large. 118 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 4: What fact is that headed in the military in terms 119 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 4: of its capability. 120 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 6: Well, talking day in and day out, we represent military 121 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 6: members who are facing criminal or administrative issues in the military, 122 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 6: and what we see just on our individual basis dealing 123 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 6: with clients is how much effort and resources go into 124 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 6: essentially prioritizing these very woke policies, these very far left 125 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 6: progressive policies, prioritizing that over what you might think is 126 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 6: more important, like elevating people who are really high performers. 127 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 6: They will take people out of the workforce altogether. If 128 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 6: somebody makes a complaint that they felt offended by a commander, 129 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 6: for example, And it's no exaggeration to say that that 130 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 6: takes all priority over operational needs from our perspective, and 131 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 6: we have clients that run the gamut from the most 132 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 6: senior ranking officers down to privates, and so we know 133 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 6: exactly what the impact is when these people are removed 134 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 6: from their jobs for things that would never have gone 135 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 6: on in the past in the military. 136 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 3: But that's the number one focus. 137 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 6: Leadership knows that their positions, especially at the general officer level, 138 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 6: are at the behest of congress, so they will toe 139 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 6: the line and go along with all of these initiatives 140 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 6: in order to appease the leadership. They don't want to 141 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 6: be the ones to say that somebody's lying or somebody's 142 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 6: exaggerating something against their boss. It's easier to just run 143 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,960 Speaker 6: these through all these investigative processes. So you're taking really 144 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 6: important people from across the entire spectrum of the chain 145 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 6: of command out of the workforce, essentially in order to 146 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 6: appease the political howers that be. 147 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 4: From our perspective, I mean, I was an Army brad 148 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 4: my dead'smand twenty six years in the infantry so I 149 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 4: grew up in a world where we actually thought the 150 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 4: purpose of the military was to fight and win wars. 151 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 3: Exactly. We thought that too. 152 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 4: One of the things that's very striking is that in 153 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 4: twenty fifteen, and this is during the Obama administration, the 154 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,320 Speaker 4: US Marine Corps released the results of a year long 155 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 4: study on Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force looking at 156 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 4: women in combat units, and the study concluded that all 157 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 4: male units outperformed mixed gender units across the board, that 158 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 4: female marines were slower, less accurate with weapons, and had 159 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 4: more injuries than men. That must have been politically totally inappropriate. 160 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:54,439 Speaker 5: It's interesting how that situation happened. There was a mandate 161 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 5: from the Department of Defense during the Obama administration to 162 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 5: effectively integrate ma and female individuals into combat units. The Army, 163 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 5: the Navy, and the Air Force all just said okay. 164 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 5: The Marine Corps sought an exception to these combined infantry units, 165 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,199 Speaker 5: and so they conducted this study, and the study showed 166 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 5: overwhelmingly that male units outperformed mixed gender units. 167 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: Well. 168 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 5: In the end, it turns out that they submit that 169 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 5: report with a strong recommendation from a Marine general that 170 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 5: they maintain all male units to make sure that our 171 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 5: combat fighting force remains as lethal as possible. That was 172 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 5: rejected by the Obama administration, and instead of adhering to 173 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 5: and following the guidance that came with this very detailed study, 174 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 5: they essentially discontinued and disallowed all future studies measuring the 175 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 5: effectiveness of a mixed gender combat unit. So you can see, 176 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 5: when you don't have statistics anymore, you don't have to 177 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 5: respond to them. They simply close their eyes to the 178 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 5: issues that are created In our book, we're looking at 179 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 5: what makes the United States military the strongest, winning and 180 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 5: fighting the nation's wars. We have to win, and if 181 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 5: we aren't measuring the successful ways to do that through 182 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 5: objective measures, we're just throwing money at an issue, thinking 183 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 5: that our social policies are somehow going to save the 184 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 5: country when we need lethal, deadly force when needed. 185 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 4: From your perspective, looking at everything you're looking at, how 186 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 4: concerned are you that we actually might have combat and 187 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 4: capable units. To what extent are you worried about that problem? 188 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 6: I think it's just from a practical standpoint, when you 189 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 6: look at the amount of man hours that are going 190 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 6: into training on these what we would call walk issues 191 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:00,959 Speaker 6: when you're looking at the fact that you're turning a 192 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 6: blind eye to merit based promotions and you're instead looking 193 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,079 Speaker 6: at identity based promotions to make sure that people are 194 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 6: happy and that everybody feels included. I think for all 195 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 6: practical purposes, there's no way that that doesn't impact your 196 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 6: operational readiness. And there is a Marine general who spoke 197 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 6: out after the integration of the combat units that said 198 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 6: our future enemies will be the arbiters of such decisions. 199 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 3: So ultimately, at. 200 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 6: This point, the leadership under the Biden administration wants to 201 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 6: say that the diversity and wolf policies will make us 202 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 6: quote unquote stronger, but they offer no substantive support of that, 203 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 6: and in fact, all of the time that goes into 204 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 6: pushing these policies and the ignoring of the objective factors 205 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 6: and performance metrics, there's really no way to say for 206 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 6: sure until it may be too late. And I think 207 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 6: it's pretty obvious that it will have some measurable impact 208 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 6: on our operational performance. 209 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 5: And we'll add to that briefly that as deadly as 210 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 5: our fighting forces are today and as effective as many 211 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 5: of our units are, it's a question of how much 212 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 5: money and resources, how big the military has to become 213 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 5: to support a couple of units that are productive or 214 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 5: that have the efficiency needed to get the job done. 215 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 5: So it's a multifaceted issue. Still a very effective United 216 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 5: States military, but it could be far more effective. 217 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 4: Part of this problem, of course, is that the psychology 218 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,079 Speaker 4: of the Defense Department, of the psychology of the services 219 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 4: gets reflected into the culture at large, and don't we 220 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:36,439 Speaker 4: now have the largest shortfall in recruiting that we've had 221 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 4: in modern times. 222 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 5: That's exactly right. It is a recruiting crisis. I see 223 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 5: it when I go to the military basis all the time. 224 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 5: We just see the overall quality of what it appears 225 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 5: to be in For example, I was on a naval 226 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 5: base earlier this week. They've let go of basically all 227 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 5: dress and appearance standards, meaning that the way in which 228 00:13:55,559 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 5: the PT abilities of sailors. They don't discharge folks anymore 229 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,440 Speaker 5: for failures on basic PT guidelines. So we have a 230 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 5: tremendous issue with our recruiting. But we have to look 231 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 5: at what the military is saying. The overall fighting force 232 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 5: is to understand who is and isn't coming in. I mean, 233 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 5: there is kind of an attitude about the military of 234 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 5: there being a nature of a good old boys type 235 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 5: of scenario. These are people who are interested in infantry, 236 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 5: interested in war, interested in one of the oldest professions 237 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 5: there is in humanity. And so there is a lot 238 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 5: of nobility in the history of civilization to being a 239 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 5: soldier to fighting wars. But now we've kind of shifted 240 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 5: the military into essentially the socialist kind of institution. People 241 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 5: are coming in for the social policies. That was very 242 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 5: criticized in the aftermath of the Gulf War in the 243 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 5: nineties and when the army had put so much into 244 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 5: essentially creating a socialist type program where they're not just 245 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 5: supporting the troops, but they're supporting the families at large. 246 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 5: There was a lot of criticis way back then noting 247 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 5: that families were relying too heavily on the social programs 248 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 5: of the army as opposed to basically anybody else in 249 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 5: our country and the working force, and how families have 250 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 5: to get their way through. And so that's early nineties 251 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 5: that there's criticism, and now you look at what we 252 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 5: have today and the military has turned into full socialist 253 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 5: type policies and programs, with the way that they treat 254 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 5: families and the extent to which military members themselves are 255 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 5: accommodated for all of their various complaints and desires that 256 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 5: they have. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't fully 257 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 5: support our troops, but we have to look at what 258 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 5: it means to and how much it costs to support 259 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 5: our troops through the lens of these wildly progressive policies 260 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 5: that the left seems to want to push on the 261 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 5: military as being that which they define as supporting our troops. 262 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 5: There's other ways that we support our troops besides socialist programs. 263 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 4: You also draw a very amazing interest between a Russian 264 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 4: military recruitment ad and what we're currently doing in the US. 265 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 4: Can you describe the difference in the two recruiting styles right? 266 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 6: Well, Russia had released an ad that essentially was like 267 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 6: the quintessential masculine ideal of war fighting really strong individuals, 268 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 6: rock music, blaring, and he said, I think it even 269 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 6: says at the end, you're a real man, be you 270 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 6: on or something like that, in order to entice people 271 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 6: to join the fight, join the force. I mean, they're 272 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 6: in ground warfare. They need to recruit people who can 273 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 6: literally fight. In contrast, the US military, with the exception 274 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 6: of the Army, because they actually came out later and 275 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 6: kind of tried to mirror the Russian AD, has come 276 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 6: out with these policies or these I guess recruitment programs 277 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 6: that are tailored at individual identity based type conduct, which 278 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,800 Speaker 6: is interesting. But the idea of the military is literally 279 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 6: that you are not an individual in many respects, that 280 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 6: you're there as one team, one fight, and so the 281 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 6: idea of kind of hoisting up certain identities and saying 282 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 6: everyone's special and unique in your own way, and we 283 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 6: need to honor you, that doesn't really work with the 284 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,640 Speaker 6: idea of what the military's purpose is. So even though 285 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 6: that's the popular progressive thing to say, it's not working 286 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:17,400 Speaker 6: to recruit people because the people who want to fight 287 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 6: are people who are traditionally drawn to I guess you 288 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,400 Speaker 6: could call it like a masculine identity of some sort, 289 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 6: but you need people that have that mentality in an 290 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:27,679 Speaker 6: actual war set situation. 291 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 3: So I think it was pretty funny. 292 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 6: The Army did eventually come out with an AD that 293 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 6: was sort of similar to the Russia AD, like I mentioned, 294 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 6: but it was kind of mocked online saying that, oh, 295 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:39,880 Speaker 6: it looks like the US is scared that they're going 296 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 6: to war now because they were simply trying to actually 297 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:43,919 Speaker 6: get recruits. 298 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 3: That had that fighting mindset. 299 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 6: So, I mean, I don't know what kind of games 300 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 6: they're playing with this, because it is, like you said, 301 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 6: a very simple mission to fight and win wars. And 302 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 6: so that being said, a lot of military families don't 303 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 6: want their kids to go into the military because they 304 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 6: see how much it's changed and they don't want to 305 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,120 Speaker 6: voluntarily put their kids in that situation. 306 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 4: The Marines used to sort of really focus on the 307 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,679 Speaker 4: fact that they wanted a few good people and that 308 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 4: there was a great pride in the core in sort 309 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 4: of being part of the core, not just being an individual. 310 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,679 Speaker 5: Has that faded, it has faded, it's still there and 311 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:21,640 Speaker 5: there's still a real element to it. So I think 312 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 5: that we want to make sure that it's known to 313 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 5: the individual service members that we still see them as 314 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 5: being particularly unique in terms of the dedication and the 315 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 5: commitment they've made to fighting for our country. But the 316 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 5: Marines today are a bit different. The way in which 317 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 5: the Marine Corps has regulated itself over the years has 318 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 5: led to certain instances of really terrible instances of hazing 319 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,679 Speaker 5: or other types of conduct that would be violative of 320 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 5: the UCMJ and always has been, I mean, the idea 321 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:55,120 Speaker 5: of unlawful hazing or maltreatment of troops that has always 322 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 5: been a part of the modern Uniform Code of Military Justice. 323 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 5: But now you have this reality that when junior ranking individuals, 324 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 5: even in the Marine corps, where there is not much 325 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 5: tolerance for breaks in the chain of command or disrespect 326 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 5: to the orders of those above you, we see that 327 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 5: younger folks that junior ranking people are able to essentially 328 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 5: go around the chain of command take control of a 329 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 5: situation where maybe they're getting themselves in trouble, they've got 330 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 5: some sort of issue coming their way, and all they 331 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 5: have to do is say that they feel harassed or 332 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 5: they feel singled out. They feel like their unique identity 333 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 5: that's all self proclaimed, is being somehow infringed upon because 334 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,679 Speaker 5: they wanted to have pink hair, they want to be 335 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 5: able to talk about their sexuality in the workplace, or 336 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,800 Speaker 5: that they don't like that they're getting some sort of 337 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 5: attention from somebody who potentially they had given attention to. First. 338 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:50,400 Speaker 5: It turns into these high school type politics, and all 339 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 5: a junior ranking person has to do is file a 340 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 5: dei complaint against a supervisor, and it blows up the 341 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 5: whole chain of command. Everything that had been happened, it 342 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 5: becomes derailed, and this individual is able to go away 343 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 5: Scott Friego where they want, oftentimes even getting a change 344 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 5: of station to a new military base, simply because they 345 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 5: said that that's what they. 346 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:23,440 Speaker 7: Want in order to make the situation go away. 347 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 4: Historically, basic training was a very tough you know, tear 348 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 4: down the civilian and rebuild them as a soldier or 349 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:43,240 Speaker 4: a marine or whatever. To what extent has this dramatically 350 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 4: weakened the very concept of basic training. 351 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 6: Well, like Andy was just saying, a big part of 352 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,240 Speaker 6: what's happened in basic training all the way through any 353 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 6: part of active duty that reserves, any branch of the service. 354 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 6: The weaponization of these complaints systems allows for essentially like 355 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 6: a out of jail free card regardless of where you 356 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 6: are or if you feel offended or if you feel harassed. 357 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 3: And these are very subjective terms, and the military treats 358 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:13,359 Speaker 3: them all like it's the gospel. So it's very much 359 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 3: an open. 360 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 6: Secret that anybody can complain and take down the entire 361 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 6: chain of command for whatever reason, and. 362 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 5: So you have time out cards. 363 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 3: There's time out. 364 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 6: Cards at boot camp now because they're worried about offending people. 365 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 3: And this again comes from the very top. 366 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:29,679 Speaker 6: And that's the problem, is that the leadership is the 367 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 6: ones pushing this because again their careers are on the line. 368 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:34,640 Speaker 6: That's another thing we discussed in the book is kind 369 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,919 Speaker 6: of how some of this the congressional pressure was a 370 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 6: significant part of this, and so now at this point, 371 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:42,719 Speaker 6: the chain of command is just totally hands off. They 372 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 6: know what the marching orders are from the Pentagon and 373 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 6: from the White House, and they do not want to 374 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 6: get involved. They're not going to tell somebody that they 375 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 6: think that their complaint is illegitimate, because then that will 376 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 6: trigger all of the victim's lobbies to go to Congress 377 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,360 Speaker 6: and complain that people are being bullied. And so it's 378 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 6: a very political situation. And even at the very lowest levels, 379 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 6: and it's widely known, and so even at basic training 380 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 6: and beyond, it's very easy to not do what's expected 381 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 6: of you or what we would think happens there. 382 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 4: I mean, it's sort of a hollowing out of the 383 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 4: very core system of being an effective mantor that's right. 384 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,199 Speaker 5: I mean, I think that we have a perspective that 385 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,359 Speaker 5: the military has to take a deep reanalysis of what 386 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 5: its policies and programs look like. What can we do 387 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 5: to essentially reshape a military to remain the world's best 388 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 5: in terms of a fighting force, but avoid it going 389 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 5: down a path of wokeness, which we think has an 390 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 5: underlying extremely negative effect on it. You can also just 391 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 5: look at it from a numbers perspective. The amount of 392 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 5: money that we spend on woke programs is quite outrageous. 393 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 5: I think that the most outrageous dollar figure is that 394 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 5: we spend on global warming. Billions of dollars we spend 395 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,640 Speaker 5: on global warming initiatives within the military, all to prevent 396 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 5: the world from going up one degree by twenty fifty 397 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,200 Speaker 5: or whatever the varying priorities happen to be that year. 398 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 5: From the global warming outrage community, when they're missing the 399 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 5: point that if we lessen our military's fighting capabilities and 400 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 5: in so doing our enemies end up dropping a nuclear 401 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 5: weapon on the world with the one degree of global 402 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 5: warming by twenty fifty happens to not be the priority anymore. 403 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 5: So we've got to keep our eye on the prize. 404 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 5: We have to make sure that everything, every dollar, every 405 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 5: man hour that we're putting into the military is to 406 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,919 Speaker 5: make it the world's most lethal, not to make it 407 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 5: the most huggable. 408 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 4: You know, you've begun to see universities, for example, eliminating 409 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,360 Speaker 4: their diversity, equity and inclusion offices, some of which turn 410 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 4: out to be quite expensive. To what extent should the 411 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 4: next administration come in and just simply eliminate all of 412 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 4: the DEI programs in the Defense Department? 413 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 3: Well, I think that would be the first step. 414 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 6: And even under President Trump, there was a significant amount 415 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 6: of policies that were different that did not prioritize these programs, 416 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 6: that spanned everything from transgender care to even the sexual 417 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 6: harassment type regulations. So I think it's a big part 418 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 6: is from the administration and from the president themselves. 419 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:20,959 Speaker 3: For sure. 420 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 6: The military has a lot of different programs that kind 421 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:27,880 Speaker 6: of fall under the wide range of what we call 422 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 6: DEI programs. So while they have like an actual DEI department, 423 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 6: there's also other programs that are kind of couched as 424 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 6: different names that also fall under that am bit. So 425 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 6: it would take a lot of analysis of what is 426 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 6: actually going on with those programs, with the personnel that 427 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 6: are being used to push them forward, to understand why 428 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 6: you do or don't need. 429 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 3: Some of those things. 430 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 6: And I think it's a balance too, because obviously there's 431 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 6: some virtue in certain things to try to eliminate certain 432 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 6: harmful things or try to honor people in a certain way. 433 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 6: That's not necessarily bad thing, but that's not what this 434 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 6: is about. This is going way too far with way 435 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 6: too much money, and with nothing to show for it 436 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,920 Speaker 6: from what we've seen as far as the operational abilities 437 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,919 Speaker 6: of the force. So I think that it's way too 438 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,960 Speaker 6: big of a department. That's another conversation altogether as well. 439 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,439 Speaker 6: But the money that goes into it can certainly be 440 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 6: reassessed from the top down. 441 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 4: These systems are huge, and they're complicated, and you have 442 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 4: people who spend their lifetime developing them, so that trying 443 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 4: to fundamentally reshape the culture of the military back to 444 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 4: war fighting would be a very wrenching experience. When you're 445 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 4: a gigantic peacetime bureaucracy, you can hide a lot of 446 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 4: failure and not face the consequences of things that don't work. 447 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,479 Speaker 5: I think you're bringing up a very important point on 448 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,640 Speaker 5: culture and the way that our society, the way that 449 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 5: culture changes over decades of time, because the military is 450 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 5: so different today than it was in the mid two thousands, 451 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,639 Speaker 5: especially those guys in the Army during the stop loss 452 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 5: programs during the War on Terrorism, where they were overseas 453 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 5: for eighteen plus months fighting in a ruling war that 454 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 5: was a ground war, hand to hand combat. They were 455 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 5: seeing and they were seeing it through an extended amount 456 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 5: of time, and there was a certain attitude, a certain 457 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 5: gravitas about what it meant to be a soldier, what 458 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 5: it meant to be a service member infantry, what it 459 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,479 Speaker 5: meant to be joining the military, even if you were 460 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,679 Speaker 5: in a profession like my own as a jag still 461 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 5: being put into an extraordinarily dangerous situation in mass You know, 462 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,640 Speaker 5: it wasn't an occasional unit who's in a relatively combat 463 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 5: oriented position like we might see today, but this was 464 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,399 Speaker 5: real combat. So it took fifteen years or so to 465 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 5: see that culture shift swinging wildly to the left, with 466 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 5: US now having drag show performances on military base is 467 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,639 Speaker 5: and transgenderism being a matter that many are thinking should 468 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 5: absolutely be part of the military. I mean, we don't 469 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,560 Speaker 5: look at transgenderism as it being something that shouldn't be 470 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,439 Speaker 5: in the military because we have a judgment about whatever 471 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 5: surgery takes place. It's because it's a phenomenal distraction to 472 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 5: the mission at hand. 473 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,200 Speaker 7: I mean, the folks. 474 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,679 Speaker 5: Who are going through transgender programs, it's a huge amount 475 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:25,439 Speaker 5: of money medically that now they're asking the federal government 476 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 5: to pay for. It takes months, if not years to 477 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 5: effectively go through such procedures to become deployable again. And 478 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,320 Speaker 5: so we have a total distraction, and we're welcoming it 479 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 5: like it's the Holy Grail, like it's the decidedly correct 480 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 5: thing to do in a military fighting force. So we 481 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:45,360 Speaker 5: are welcoming in people into the military with a different 482 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,479 Speaker 5: frame of reference, a different mindset than to fight and 483 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,199 Speaker 5: win wars. And they're much more interested in how to 484 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,919 Speaker 5: fight for their identities and to have those identities be 485 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 5: stacked upon each other to create the basis for promotions 486 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 5: and eligibility to be effectively in the long run in 487 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 5: charge of the military only because of their identity, not 488 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 5: because of the production that they bring to the force. 489 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 4: Well, you know, I think this is a particularly appropriate 490 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 4: time to be talking about this because Memorial Day, which 491 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 4: started out as appreciation Day right after the Civil War 492 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,120 Speaker 4: and a statement of appreciation for those who had given 493 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,440 Speaker 4: their lives to preserve the country, Memorial Day is a 494 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 4: pretty good time to remember that none of this is 495 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,919 Speaker 4: a game. That in the end, you survive as a 496 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 4: free country only if you have the strength, the courage, 497 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 4: the commitment to defeat people who would eliminate you. And 498 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 4: that what you're describing and the reason your books so 499 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 4: important is that woe warriors are not going to defeat 500 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 4: real warriors. Woe warriors are fine as long as we 501 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 4: have peace time, but then you actually don't need them 502 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 4: military if you have peace time. You need a military 503 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 4: when you have a war. And I think what you've 504 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,520 Speaker 4: done and is a very important conversation, and I think 505 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 4: the work you've done is really important. I want to 506 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 4: in addition to wishing all of our listeners a happy 507 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 4: Memorial Day, I want to thank the two of you 508 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,360 Speaker 4: for serving the country and for being willing to be 509 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 4: in service. And I want to thank you for taking 510 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 4: the extra time to develop this understanding to write Woke Warriors, 511 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 4: how the Left is destroying America's ability to fight and 512 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 4: win Wars, which is available on Amazon in bookstores everywhere. 513 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 4: I think what you're doing is incredibly important, and I 514 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 4: hope that every member of Congress and everybody concerned about 515 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 4: our military readiness will get a copy and read it 516 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 4: as soon as possible. So I want to thank you 517 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,360 Speaker 4: Andrew and Katie for sharing your time with me, and 518 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 4: I want to thank you for dedicating yourselves to strengthening America. 519 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 3: Thank you so much, pleasure, thank you so much. 520 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 4: Thank you. To my guests Andrew and Katie Tcherkanski. You 521 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 4: can get a link to buy their new book, Woke Warriors, 522 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 4: How the Left is destroying America's abiling to fight and 523 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 4: win its wars on our show page at newtsworld dot com. 524 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,479 Speaker 4: Newsworld is produced by Gingrid three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our 525 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 4: executive producer is Guarnsey Slom. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 526 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 4: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. 527 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 4: Special thanks to the team at Gingward three sixty. If 528 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 4: you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple 529 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 4: Podcast and both rate us with five stars and give 530 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,000 Speaker 4: us a review so others can learn what it's all about. 531 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 4: Right now, listeners of the Newsworld can sign up for 532 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 4: my three freeweekly columns at gingerstree sixty dot com slash newsletter. 533 00:30:56,080 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 4: I'm newt Gingrich. This is Newtworld.