The Biden administration’s efforts to revise and extend radical policies affecting the culture of the U.S. military and the status of certain service members may make 2023 one of the most transformative years in the history of this nation’s armed services, changing the institution beyond recognition, policy analysts and commentators have told The Epoch Times.
President Biden tends to rely on executive orders and revisions to past instructions to force through far-reaching changes and remake the military, especially with regard to official policy on transgender service members. These orders and their consequences are not always widely reported, hence the changes do not always undergo extensive public scrutiny or debate, the experts say.
The changes affect everything from the ease with which a male service member may choose to identify as female and thereby gain access to women’s facilities and sports teams, to the etiquette that commanders must use when referring to transgender persons or issues.
“The public pays little attention to the internal activities in federal agencies, even the Defense Department. When these stories pop up, they are quickly overwhelmed by bigger events,” Keith Naughton, the principal of Silent Majority Strategies, a Germantown, Maryland-based think tank, told The Epoch Times.
“It is a stark reminder of the power of the president and the executive branch, the relatively low power of the courts, and the importance of winning elections,” Naughton added.
In agreement with this judgment is Susan Katz Keating, the publisher of Soldier of Fortune magazine and a commentator on military policy.
“A lot of this goes under the radar because the public doesn’t really watch for it. So many changes are ‘stealth directives’ that don’t get noticed while the public pays attention to other issues,” Keating told The Epoch Times.
Furtive Actions
The administration has not waited for public attention to catch up with its plans to remake the military according to a highly specific set of criteria, the experts say. While changes have been underway for years in policies concerning race and gender diversity, and have gained momentum under President Joe Biden, the administration’s resolve to refashion the military into what it considers a more inclusive and representative institution is especially evident in the area of transgender policy.
