Army's top civilian wants officers 'out of the culture wars'

Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said the Army's top brass should stay out of intense political debates or risk alienating "wide swaths of the American public to the Army" amid an already significant recruiting shortage.

"The key for senior leaders in an environment that is as politicized, unfortunately, as the one we're all operating in is to exercise good judgment," she said, according to The Hill, adding that she prioritized "keeping [the Army] out of the culture wars."

"When only 9 percent of kids are interested in serving, we have got to make sure that we are careful about not alienating wide swaths of the American public to the Army," Wormuth continued.

The military has faced a significant drop in recruiting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic during which many recruiting stations closed and went digital. In late June of this year, the Army announced it would allow individuals to enlist without the previously required high school diploma if they did so before Oct. 1, per military.com. 

Wormuth's comments come amid a tumultuous year that saw the involvement of the armed forces in political squabbles. In May and June, the Army released a string of recruitment ads aimed at prospective Gen-Z enlistees that earned considerable public ire over perceptions of wokeness in the service. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz was particularly critical of those ads, asserting they portrayed a "woke, emasculated" armed forces.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, in particular, has attracted considerable scorn over the inclusion of Critical Race Theory materials in military education and his denials that the military is "woke."

Wormuth's comments, however, come amid an ongoing investigation into Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe for alleged misconduct on social media after a heated argument with Fox News personalities on Twitter during which he defended COVID-19 vaccine mandates, The Hill noted.