A U.S. Space Force commanding officer was fired from his post on Friday after expressing concern on a podcast that Marxist ideologies are becoming prevalent in the U.S. military.
Lt Col. Matthew Lohmeier, commander of 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., was relieved from duty over a “loss of trust and confidence in his ability to lead,” a Space Force spokesperson told Military.com.
“This decision was based on public comments made by Lt. Col. Lohmeier in a recent podcast. Lt. Gen. Whiting has initiated a Command Directed Investigation on whether these comments constituted prohibited partisan political activity,” the spokesperson added.
A US Space Force Commander was just relieved of command for speaking out against Critical Race Theory
He felt so strongly about how it is ruining our military, he wrote a book about it
Space Operations Command has now placed him under investigation https://t.co/TWo9yvoqEF pic.twitter.com/X9YlG0HCkm
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) May 16, 2021
Lohmeier earlier this month self-published a book titled “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military,” which is described as “a timely and bold contribution from an active-duty Space Force lieutenant colonel who sees the impact of a neo-Marxist agenda at the ground level within our armed forces.”
He appeared on the podcast “Information Operation” with host L. Todd Wood to promote the book and spoke out against U.S. institutions, including the military, increasingly adopting leftist practices like critical race theory.
“The diversity, inclusion and equity industry and the trainings we are receiving in the military … is rooted in critical race theory, which is rooted in Marxism,” Lohmeier said.
Lohmeier also said he doesn’t “demonize [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin], but I want to make it clear to both him and every service member this [diversity and inclusion] agenda, it will divide us, it will not unify us.”
He also took issue with Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby, who Lohmeier claimed said “there are too many white pilots.”
“If you want to provide that kind of messaging to your already struggling pilot force, you can already expect to see further retention problems,” Lohmeier said. (RELATED: House Republicans Introduce Legislation To Fully Defund Critical Race Theory)
Lohmeier told Military.com in a statement that he had consulted with his chain of command, public affairs and legal counsel before publishing the book and that his intent was never to engage in partisan politics, but to alert the public about the increased polarization in the military.
“I have written a book about a particular political ideology (Marxism) in the hope that our Defense Department might return to being politically non-partisan in the future as it has honorably done throughout history,” he said.