Cotton: The Military Needs ‘to Focus on Real Wars, not on Culture Wars’

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Thursday reacted to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley’s comments in support of the study of Critical Race Theory in the military.

Cotton, who rose the rank of captain in the U.S. Army before being honorably discharged, said it is a “waste of time” to expose troops or students in military schools to Critical Race Theory, arguing it undermines unit cohesion and morale. Instead of focusing on “culture wars,” Cotton said the military should “focus on real wars.”

“The army and military as a whole need to focus on real wars, not on culture wars,” Cotton said on FNC’s “Fox News Primetime.”

“I hope I’m wrong, but what I see there from a distance is what appears to be not education but indoctrination,” host Will Cain posed.

“Yeah, and that’s what we have heard from the frontline troopers, you know, the young privates, sergeants through the backbone of our military, officers who oftentimes are involved in having to conduct these training sessions — in some cases very much against their wishes. You know, again, there is always a place, for instance, in college campuses to include our service academies to say read Karl Marx in a class on the history of Western thought. But when it comes down to training sessions for our frontline troops, they need to be taught to respect everyone irrespective of their race or their sex or their ethnicity or their religious creed or their political views, treat them with equal dignity and respect, period. And then they need to get back to tactical excellence and operational training so we can perform at the highest levels and our troops can be ready to fight in whatever kind of circumstances they might face.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent