Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a frequent critic of what he calls the U.S. military's "woke" agenda, said a study recommending the Marine Corps drop gender-specific salutations for drill instructors is "insane."
Gallagher, the ranking Republican on the of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee and a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, said in a statement Thursday on his website that wokeism in the armed forces is a distraction from warfighting and a factor that is driving service members out of active duty "in droves."
The study was done by the University of Pittsburgh through a $2 million grant from the Marine Corps. It suggested instead of saying "ma'am" or "sir," recruits should refer to their drill instructors using their ranks or roles followed by their last names. The study said gendered identifiers prime recruits to think about or visually search for a drill instructor's gender first before their rank or role.
"Obviously, this is insane," said Gallagher, adding he hopes Gen. David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, "not only rejects the recommendation but also asks for his money back."
Gallagher said the Marine Corps might have problems, but the use of gendered terms at boot camp is not among them.
"Furthermore, our military leaders continue to deny wokeism exists in the military despite spending millions of defense dollars on woke projects," Gallagher said. "Playing such dumb games in academia or entertainment is one thing, but now we are meddling with the life-or-death business of warfighting.
"If we keep integrating such woke nonsense into deterrence, then we will see more deterrence failures."
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