Thanks for Your Service

Lt Col (Ret) Ryan Sweazey (Retired, Air Force – United States Air Force Academy), President and Founder of the Walk the Talk Foundation, authored this article.

Think your contribution to the defense of the nation means anything when you call the institution into question?? Think again.

The “father of the bomb” Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer went from America’s premiere scientific mind and celebrity to pariah in the matter of years.? Why?? Simply put: he called the institution into question.? He crossed people whose power and egos and identities were directly derived from the survival and existence of the institution they were a part of.? For that, Oppenheimer paid dearly.? Despite the superhuman contributions he made to the nation and democracy, “Oppie” saw himself the victim of textbook kangaroo-court-style retribution veritably before the ashes had stopped falling in Hiroshima.? After having crossed some self-serving politicians, most notably Lewis Strauss, Oppenheimer found himself in what authors Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin appropriately termed a “star chamber” that had one mission – more appropriately one foregone conclusion – to derail him.? In 1954 Strauss and his allies succeeded when the man who was (perhaps inaccurately) credited with ending World War II was denied his security clearance, thereby essentially ending his career by irreparably tarnishing his personal and professional reputation.

What was Oppenheimer guilty of?? The board who revoked his clearance claimed it was his past ties to Communism and his obfuscation of that fact over time.? However, in reality, his real crime was that he crossed a self-serving government miscreant in Lewis Strauss, a financier turned lifelong bureaucrat.? During several exchanges over the course of a decade, Oppenheimer questioned, and sometimes embarrassed, the chairman of the newly-formed Atomic Energy Commission and because Strauss’ hold on power and authority stemmed from the very thing Oppenheimer called into question, the retaliation was brutal and merciless.? Mostly broken, Oppenheimer slowly descended into despondency, quasi-anonymity, and finally death.? The man who was once exalted by America as its scientific savior was ultimately ousted by the same government who owed him a nearly unpayable debt.? His hearing and resultant downfall were called “a black mark on the escutcheon of our country,” a stinging critique made by the board’s single dissenting voter Ward V. Evans, on how we betrayed our nuclear “messiah.”

During the hearing, the board used tactics we see implemented against service members today: the picking and choosing ?of evidence which fit a preconceived narrative, the enormous disparity in terms of resources availed to the government versus those availed to the complainant/subject, and a gross misapplication of the standards and burdens of proof.?? The lesson to all who serve in the defense of democracy should be clear: your contributions to the service of the nation amount to next to nil if you cross the institution.? Just like the government-aided and resourced persecution that Oppenheimer endured, so too will any member of the Department of Defense be likewise targeted should the leadership deem it so.? Concepts like rights, laws, and due process mean little to nothing when it comes to the realm of the DoD’s administrative “processes.”? And if our government can intentionally and systematically ruin its “atomic father,” how much do you think it will hesitate to do the same to you??

As we surpass 500 consultations and clients at the Walk the Talk Foundation, we continue to be astounded by the speed and voracity with which the military institution and its leadership cabal turns on its people, aka its “most valuable resource.”? And after analyzing the pattern of behavior from these hundreds of cases, we submit that the military misconstrues members blowing the whistle with calling the sanctity of command into question.? When that occurs, retribution comes as swiftly as it does illegally.? The cognitive dissonance many of our clients struggle with is that they can’t believe the military would be capable of such despicable behavior; that the American principles of truth, justice, and due process still apply.? Complainants believe that because they were wronged, there will be justice and accountability.? Subjects believe that because they are innocent the allegations against them will be unsubstantiated.? And these great yet na?ve Americans, just like Oppenheimer was great yet na?ve, are dead wrong.? Because of all the patterns we’ve observed from our Department of Defense, two remain tried and true: if the military lays out a foregone conclusion for someone, it will be fulfilled; and, if it is asked to find itself culpable, it simply won’t.

The critical link, both in Oppenheimer’s era as well as today, is the ego-centric bureaucrat of the institution.? Like Strauss, the senior officer / civilian of the DoD today enjoys power and “success” from the continued survival of the institution.? To question that “sacred cow,” or even to be perceived to have questioned it (as is so often the case with complainants), invites the full wrath of those in the cabal’s inner circles hell-bent on squashing any dissonance in their ranks.? At that point, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, how long or honorably you’ve served, or what you’ve contributed - it doesn’t change the fact that if you become a target of the institution, you are done…you just may not know it yet.

If you feel that you have been a victim of these types of concerns, feel free to reach out privately at [email protected], or share your story in the comments.

PETITIONS:

1. ?SIGN THIS PETITION urging the Supreme Court of the United States to hear the case of Staff Sergeant Ryan Carter who was paralyzed from the chest down following a routine surgery at Walter Reed.
2. SIGN THIS PETITION demanding that our leaders in Congress change the DoD’s unjust administrative investigatory system.
3. SIGN THIS PETITION demanding real anti-harassment reform in the Military and Coast Guard now.

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