When Enough is Enough!

I’m a firm believer in Freedom of speech and the Press; however, I’m not a believer in publishing a baseless diatribe against our public servants and armed forces. After reading a well-known columnist’s recent opinion piece on the Navy, I ended my Santa Clarita Valley Signal subscription. I emailed the publisher and editor and asked why they would publish an article promoting a mistruth and denigrating one of our public servants and the U.S. Navy. Their responses were unsatisfactory.

I’m a relative newcomer to Santa Clarita, having arrived at the end of 2018, and have been a subscriber and contributing writer to The Signal for a few years. I don’t know the columnist who wrote the editorial. Many have told me he’s an institution in the Valley and has been writing for The Signal for decades. I have read many of his pieces, and his short bio at the end of the column identifies him as a humorist and satirist.

Satire is a healthy form of journalism and public speaking. It is most effective when truth, entangled with irony and hypocrisy, is exposed humorously. Some of the greatest satirists, Andy Rooney and Bill Safire, wrote and talked about flaws in our institutions, politicians, and public leaders in a humorous, biting way that promoted positive change. I didn’t find this columnist’s piece titled “Navy’s New Woke Fizzy Fitness Tests” truthful or funny, and it certainly doesn’t promote positive change.

The columnist draws a nexus between Admiral Rachel Levine and the Navy’s physical fitness standards. He wrongly states that there are eight military branches of service. There are only six: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. These six military service branches are part of our Country’s eight uniformed services. The other two are National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Public Health Service. Levine is an Admiral in the Public Health Commissioned Corps and serves as the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She isn’t associated with the Navy and likely has never set foot in the Pentagon.

This false nexus then led to the screed on the Navy’s physical fitness standards and welcoming the trans community and Democrats into the Navy, then the Left’s insistence that all in the Navy will be required to wear cork platform shoes. How the columnist associates Admiral Levine, who happens to be transgender, with the Navy’s review of fitness standards, “wokeness,” and the softening of our men and women at sea serving our Country is farcical, humorless, and baseless.

My perspective may be different from many of you. I served twenty-six years in the Army and led thousands of troops. In my early years, I commanded a basic and advanced training company and was part of transforming young men and women from our neighborhoods into the most elite fighting forces in the world. At the end of my career, I commanded a paratrooper brigade. Within these commands was a population that undoubtedly included Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, and LGBTQ-identified, closeted individuals.

So what! I saw nothing but soldiers or paratroopers. I didn’t see party affiliation, race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. I expected them to honor their oath to the Constitution, do their jobs to the standard, have their brother or sister’s six, and uphold the Army’s core values: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. And I know that on the battlefield, there is no difference in the color of their blood; it all runs red.

Less than one percent of our Nation serves in the six uniformed military branches of service. We are the best military fighting force in the world, and its composition is all volunteers who join to defend our Country.?Let that sink in. Men and women from all walks of life, from every state and territory in the union, less than one percent of our population, all volunteers, represent the best military fighting force in the world! However, not one of the six uniformed military branches of service, nor our Department of Defense, is without flaws and would make for good satire.

Like any other institution, our military evolves, as does our society. Finding how that societal evolution impacts the readiness of our force is a daily challenge within military departments. These departments continuously examine physical fitness standards and balance them against recruiting and reenlistment goals. There’s nothing “woke” or “fizzy” about the Navy, or any service, reevaluating its physical fitness standards. I can assure you that our Country’s men and women in uniform are and will remain fit to fight. Understanding generational and societal impacts on the volunteer force is not only the right thing to do, but it’s also necessary for us to remain the best fighting force in the world.

Reputable newspapers seek and publish opinions representing our broad spectrum of thought, not screeds rooted in mistruths and misrepresentations. Journalistic integrity, even in our local newspapers, should be expected by their readers.

I respect and appreciate the many contributing opinion writers for The Signal and their thoughtful pieces representing all political ideologies. I object to The Signal publishing opinion pieces that distort facts and, without reason, denigrate our noble institutions. The editor should have sent this piece back to its originator stating it didn’t meet the editorial standards of The Signal.?Not doing this, for me, is when enough is enough, and like all of us, we can choose our next steps. Mine was to end my subscription to The Signal.

COL?Paul?A.?Raggio (Ret),?the owner of Five Star Leader Development, is a fractional CEO/COO who develops C-Suite executives,?business owners, and their management teams on leadership, management principles, and best business practices.?His email address [email protected], and his phone number is (252) 571-7368. Visit his website at www.fivestarleaderdevelopment.com.