Top Army official blames anti-woke rhetoric of right for severe recruiting crisis

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The Army’s top civilian leader pushed back amid Republican criticisms that the military is going too "woke," arguing such critiques are deepening an already troubling recruiting crisis.

"We are a ready Army, not a ‘woke’ Army," Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters last week, according to a report in Task & Purpose. "That’s something, frankly, the chief [Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville] and I said throughout posture season in hearings, in meetings with members of Congress."

Wormuth’s comments come as all branches of the military have come under fire for what some critics see as "woke" policies, arguing the services have been prioritizing classes and training on diversity, equity, and inclusion over readiness to fight the nation’s wars.

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U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square, New York City. (Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The comments come as the military contends with its worst recruiting crisis since switching to an all-volunteer model over a half century ago, with all branches coming up short of expectations that have forced them to get creative in finding ways to fill the ranks.

The Army, the country’s largest military branch, has been particularly hard hit by the crisis, coming up 15,000 recruits short of meeting its fiscal year 2022 goals. While leaders such as Wormuth have expressed optimism in recent months that the Army has turned the tide, the branch still expects to fall short of 2023 goals.

During a media roundtable last week, the Army leader pointed toward the "woke" criticism as another hurdle the service is facing.

Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

"I think one of the things that we see that’s contributing to a decline in trust in the military is a concern on both sides of the aisle about politicization of our military leaders," Wormuth said. 

"I think the more our military leaders are sort of dragged into spaces that have been politicized like that, I think the more it contributes to this perception that they’re political when they really aren’t," Wormuth added. "So, I hope that we don’t see more of the kind of talk that’s been out in the past few days."

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But others, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a top GOP contender in the 2024 presidential primary, believe the opposite is true, arguing the shift toward woke policies is part of what contributed to the ongoing recruiting crisis.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)

"I think the military that I see is different from the military I served in," DeSantis who served in the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps, told Fox News last month. "I see a lot of emphasis now on political ideologies, things like gender pronouns. I see a lot about things like DEI, and I think that that's caused recruiting to plummet."

Wormuth did acknowledge in media appearances last week that there was "no doubt" the perception that the military has gone "woke" was contributing to military recruiting woes, though she argued the problem was being caused by political rhetoric and not any military policies.

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"What I am trying to do is talk about now how that drip, drip, drip of criticism about a ‘woke military,’ I do think is having some counterproductive effects on recruiting," Wormuth said.