Armed Forces Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Pentagon’s ‘Strategic Management Plan’ Devotes Roughly One Out of Every Six Pages to Diversity, Climate Change

March 16, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

Nearly one of every six pages of a document detailing the Pentagon’s management strategy are devoted to combating climate change and fulfilling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

The Strategic Management Plan for 2022 to 2026, released Tuesday, covers 124 pages and underscores the actions the Department of Defense (DOD) is taking to fulfill the Biden administration’s broader national defense strategy. It lays out high-level, long term goals and steps the department will take to accomplish those objectives and overcome anticipated challenges, as well as performance metrics for so-called Agency Priority Goals (APGs) that include climate and diversity targets.

Texas Sheriff: We’re Experiencing ‘Silent Invasion’ of Military Age Men

February 28, 2023 The Center Square

What’s happening at the southern U.S. border with Mexico is in fact an invasion, Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe says.

“We’re experiencing a silent invasion of military age men,” Coe told The Center Square when describing what his deputies have been increasingly facing over the past two years.

Though the Military Vaccine Mandate Is Overturned, Unvaccinated Troops Still Risk Reprisal

December 27, 2022December 26, 2022 Admin

While the Biden administration has officially reversed the military COVID-19 vaccination mandate, servicemembers who escaped discharge for refusing the vaccine still risk retaliation and could be booted anyway, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Ongoing class action lawsuits thwarted the military’s efforts to discharge thousands of troops who objected to the mandate before the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law Friday, overturned it. However, servicemembers may risk reprisal even after the deadline passes for the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement the repeal, staining the records of thousands of servicemembers for the remainder of their careers, experts explained to the DCNF.

Florida U.S. Rep. Greg Steube Vows Justice for Troops Punished for COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal

December 19, 2022December 18, 2022 Just the News

Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube is vowing to introduce legislation to obtain justice for those punished for refusing to comply with the military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

“I intend on filing my own bill,” Steube said on the John Solomon Reports podcast Wednesday. “I am … not naive” about prospects for passage of such a bill in a Democrat-controlled Senate, he said, “but thankfully, the House has the power of the purse, and … when we do the appropriations process over the next year, we can put riders on appropriations bills to tell the Department of Defense how they’re going to give relief to these individuals.”

Sens. Ron Johnson, Rand Paul Lead Demand for Senate Vote on Ending Military COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

December 2, 2022December 1, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) are leading their Republican colleagues in an effort to demand Senate Republican leaders insist on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would end the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

In a letter Wednesday to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senators John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (RWY), and Roy Blunt (R-MO), Johnson and Paul joined 11 of their Senate GOP colleagues in voicing their opposition to forging ahead with the NDAA for the Fiscal Year 2023 without a Senate vote on an amendment that would ban discharges from the armed services due to failure to take the COVID shot.

Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: How to Erode the World’s Greatest Military

July 26, 2022July 25, 2022 Admin

The U.S. Army has met only 40 percent of its 2022 recruiting goals.

In fact, all branches of the military are facing historic resistance to their current recruiting efforts. If some solution is not found quickly, the armed forces will radically shrink or be forced to lower standards—or both.

West Point Graduates Sign Letter Challenging Leadership of Military Academy

June 28, 2022June 27, 2022 Admin

Several retired U.S. military officers signed a letter written by “Concerned Graduates of West Point and The Long Gray Line,” which objects to mandatory vaccinations, CRT instruction, progressivism and other “woke” sentiments in the military academy.

“We wanted to challenge the leadership of the Academy and the Defense Dept on their WOKE actions, CRT, Diversity training and the other discrepancies in the Academy,” retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, told the Epoch Times.

Chinese Spies Have Wormed Their Way into Taiwan’s Military

December 21, 2021December 20, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Chinese spies infiltrated Taiwan’s military as a part of a campaign to undermine the island’s defense, Reuters reported.

The effort involved recruiting senior officers at the center of the Taiwan’s armed forces, even reaching President Tsai Ing-wen’s security detail, Reuters reported. A retired presidential security officer and a serving military police lieutenant colonel in the unit had convictions upheld this year for leaking sensitive information about her security to Beijing.

“China is conducting a very targeted infiltration effort towards Taiwan,” retired Taiwanese navy Lieutenant Commander Lu Li-shih told Reuters.

Newt Gingrich Commentary: Overcoming Defeat and Denial in Afghanistan

July 12, 2021July 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

With each passing day in Afghanistan the Taliban grows stronger, and the pro-American government forces grow weaker. Anecdotally, you can see the momentum building in the news coverage.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal, which has been tracking war in Afghanistan for years, estimates that as of Sunday the Taliban controlled 213 districts. It reports that the government controls 70 districts, and some 115 districts are being contested. Thus, after the United States, NATO, and our Afghan allies spent 20 years fighting to create a post-Taliban country, the evidence is growing that we have lost.

Presidential Hopeful Sen Liz Warren Pushes Bill Imposing Green New Deal Climate Goals on the U.S. Military

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Michael Bastach Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation to conscript the military into the fight against global warming, mandating non-combat bases meet the goals of the Green New Deal. “[C]onsistent with the objectives of the Green New Deal, the Pentagon should achieve net zero carbon emissions for…

Court Decides in Favor of the Trump Administration in Curbing Transgenders’ Service in the Military

January 5, 2019January 4, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a Trump administration policy of restricting transgender people from serving in the military. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday that a lower court judge was wrong to block the Pentagon from implementing its plan…

Letter to the Editor: Giving Thanks and Living Gratefully in Today’s Republic

November 1, 2018November 1, 2018 Admin

Dear Tennessee Star, November is best known for three special dates: Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day, and every other year, election day. This is one of those years in which we have all three and the interesting, little-understood, facet of this month is that all three of these days are connected. Thanksgiving…

How You Can Honor the Fallen This Memorial Day

May 27, 2018July 18, 2018 Admin

by Tom Callender This weekend marks the 150th anniversary of that first “Memorial Day” remembrance, when Congressman James Garfield—who would later become president—addressed a crowd of more than 5,000 at Arlington Cemetery. The tradition continues to this day at national cemeteries across the nation, with the president of the United…