In an independent survey* conducted last fall, nearly 92% of military respondents – 201 out of 229 – named President Joe Biden as a greater threat than China's Xi Jinping, Iran's Ali Khamenei, North Korea's Kim Jong Un, and Russia's Vladimir Putin. In the same survey, approximately 82% suggested the U.S. could not win a war against a near-peer threat like China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.
Gary Darby (a pseudonym) – a senior enlisted Army special operator who has served nearly 20 years in the military – was one of the survey's respondents. Speaking to American Family News on the condition of pseudonymity (due to concern about reprisals), he admits he has "zero confidence" in a military led by the Biden administration – and he questions America's ability to win a war against the likes of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.
[Editor's note: Darby emphasizes that his views do not reflect those of the Department of Defense or Department of the Army.]
"We have the capability, but we don't have leaders," he states. "The loss of life in a foreign war would be compounded by poor leadership decisions."
He points out the tragic loss of nearly 2,500 service members in Afghanistan in an operation that failed to help establish a quasi-democratic government. Instead, after 20 years of American involvement, Afghanistan has returned to strict Islamic rule of the Taliban.
Considering the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the unlawful enforcement of a COVID-19 vaccine on members of the military, Darby reveals he also has "zero trust" that senior leaders of the Department of Defense (DOD) have the best interest of service members in mind.
"I'm sorry it has taken me many combat tours to come to this conclusion," he adds.
Darby isn't alone in that assessment. Another 226 of the 229 survey respondents said they do not trust senior leaders of the DOD to have their best interest in mind. Less than half (37%) also said they do not trust their immediate leadership to have their best interests in mind.
While he shares that he "[does] not trust being deployed under our command leadership," Darby reports his unit has remained both trained and equipped enough to face combat deployment.
He's in the minority there. More than 72% of the survey's respondents determined that their units are not trained enough to face a combat deployment. And approximately 74% also said their units aren't equipped sufficiently for deployment.
* Two-hundred twenty-nine individuals currently serving in the U.S. military responded to this independent survey conducted in the Fall of 2023. Respondents represented all branches of the military as well as enlisted and officer ranks.
