The United States Air Force Academy in Colorado has implemented a diversity and inclusion program that advises cadets to avoid using terms like “mom” and “dad” and to use phrases that “include all genders.” According to Fox News, one of the program’s training slides titled “Diversity & Inclusion: What it is, why we care, & what we can do,” suggests recruits use “person-centered” and gender-neutral language.
The slide also explains, “Some families are headed by single parents, grandparents, foster parents, two moms, two dads, etc.: consider ‘parent or caregiver’ instead of ‘mom and dad.’ Use words that include all genders: ‘Folks’ or ‘Y’all’ instead of ‘guys’; ‘partner’ vs. ‘boyfriend or girlfriend.’” Additionally, the presentation asks cadets to refrain from saying colorblind. It states, “‘Not ‘Colorblind’ or ‘I don’t see color,’ but Color Conscious. We see Color/Patterns AND VALUE people for their uniqueness.”
Republican Representative Mike Waltz of Florida verified the authenticity of the documents and shared them with Fox News, noting that it “alarmed” cadets. He explained, “Now we’re instructing every cadet entering the Air Force to not say ‘mom’ and ‘dad,’ to not say ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend,’ and this kind of drive towards gender neutrality. I think the Air Force should be worried about the macro aggressions against America that are happening all over the world.”
Waltz is a ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness. He said the program is especially concerning because it creates a “separate, parallel chain of command.” He continued, “To those of us who are a little bit older, it reminds us of what the Soviets used to do or what the Chinese do today, where they literally have political commissars inserted at every level end of the chain of command, but they have a separate reporting chain to ensure that the military is abiding by their ideology and their political doctrine.”
