President-elect Trump has plans to unilaterally remove transgender troops from the U.S. military perhaps on the very day he’s sworn in as commander in chief, according to a Monday report in The (London) Times. The estimated 15,000 transgender troops in the U.S. military, according to that report, would be medically discharged, which would label them as "unfit to serve."
That's not necessarily a bad thing if it refocuses the armed forces, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Joseph Arbuckle said on Washington Watch Monday.
“We have to have standards. There is no right to serve in the military; nobody has that right," Arbuckle told guest show host Mark Alford, a U.S. House representative from Missouri.
"Standards drive performance," he continued. "If the trans community cannot meet those standards, and if they’re not prepared to deploy physically or mentally because of that, then they should not be serving. That’s the bottom line.”
The new ban is expected to be stronger than a similar initiative made by Trump during his first term in which he prohibited transgenders from joining the military but allowed those already serving to remain. President Joe Biden rescinded that Trump executive order. This time, however, even personnel with decades of service will be removed, The Times reported.
At issue: Unity & teamwork
Overlooked in the discussion is the impact of one individual’s decision – the transgender – on unity and teamwork in the military, Frank Pavone, founder of Priests for Life, said on American Family Radio Tuesday.
“When you start talking about positions in society, how does that – quote-unquote – ‘transition’ affect the lives and well-being of other people?” Pavone asked AFR show host Jenna Ellis.
“In any profession, whether you’re an air traffic controller, a plumber or an electrician, [one must ask] what is the impact going to be on the rest of us who have absolutely nothing to do with that individual’s autonomous liberty to think and identify as whatever they want?”
Men and women serving with a transgender “should not be forced to acknowledge such an obvious falsehood,” Pavone said. “Serving in the military intersects quite heavily with the well-being of other people.”
Trump’s team should clarify its intentions, Pavone added.
Do these three things
Arbuckle sees a U.S. military that has lost its way. So do Americans who gave Trump a mandate for change on Nov. 5, he says, and a big part of that is strengthening the armed services with a three-pronged set of values: war-fighting readiness, preparation and meritocracy.
“We need to take DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] out and substitute it with what we’ve had throughout the years in our military until DEI came along. By that I mean providing an equal chance for every service member to excel and be all they can be, then select those who are best for every position,” Arbuckle explained.
But Trump’s restoration project can’t stop with removal of transgender troops. Reform, the general argued, has to come from the top.
“That will involve a change of leadership, and certainly that’s been discussed. The signal has to be pushed down through the ranks from the very top – actually coming from the president through the Secretary of Defense – that 'wokeness' is out and we’re going to return to our fundamentals,” Arbuckle said.
The primary roadblocks in the mission right now are “DEI and wokeness,” Arbuckle said.
He believes Trump’s nomination for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran, is extremely qualified and up to the challenge.
What about Hegseth?
Critics say Hegseth, who settled a sexual assault allegation in 2017, lacks military experience and that his right-wing views are divisive, harmful and out of touch with the military’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Arbuckle disagrees.
“I think he’s a great choice. He comes with a tremendous warrior background. He’s young, he’s energetic. He understands very deeply the disastrous effects DEI is having on our military. In fact, he’s written a book about that [“The War on Warriors”]. I think he’ll do a great job. I certainly hope he’s confirmed,” retired Army officer said.
Hegseth’s nomination and the reported war on transgenders signal that Trump is ready to make sweeping changes and return to those military fundamentals Arbuckle says are vital. Another signal is the “warrior board” in which Trump appointees will review the capability and willingness of key leaders to bring about the return to fundamentals.
The proposal mirrors calls from conservative think tanks, lawmakers and Trump to weed out what they call "woke" generals – broadly defined as officials who have promoted diversity in the ranks or supported taking vaccinations, Military.com reported.
The idea of such has sent shivers to some on the inside.
Are they really keeping politics out?
"The military is run by civilians, but the politics are supposed to stay outside," one currently serving Army lieutenant general told Military.com. "It could be very hard to do our job if we have to constantly be making sure we're appeasing someone on a political or partisan level."
It’s hard to argue that Navy drag queens and circumventing the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that returned regulation of abortion to the states as keeping politics out of the military.
“President Trump has the right and probably the obligation to select people who are loyal to him and his agenda. As you know, there was overwhelming support for his agenda in the election, so he must put people into the highest-level positions who will do that for him,” Arbuckle contended.
The Warrior Board is a necessary tool for Trump – but Arbuckle cautioned that he needs to tread lightly.
“This loyalty board – we have to be careful about that [because] the Left is using the term 'purge'. That’s really not what it will be or should be. It has to be something that is done very, very carefully, fairly, objectively and provide due process for anybody who's involved in that so that it has credibility not only in reality but also in perception,” he said.
