11 Jan 2023

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STARRS discovered that large numbers of subscribers have not been receiving emails from us. Although we have not completely resolved the issues, we have made progress. Recent data indicates a significant number of subscribers are finally receiving communication from us. If you are one of the subscribers who did not receive previous newsletters:

The views and opinions of the authors contributing to this newsletter are those of the respective author and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of STARRS or its allies. Many thanks to all the concerned Americans cited for providing the public with insightful information.

by Jane Hampton Cook, STARRS Board of Advisors

The storm continued to rage while George Washington contemplated whether to re-cross the Delaware River or attack Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776. Perhaps no one felt the chill of the icy river and the scourge of the night crossing more than the man in charge of the artillery. The responsibility of ferrying the men and ammunitions across the river fell to the meticulous mind and attentive arms of Henry Knox. "A hardy design was formed of attacking the town by storm,” Knox wrote, describing the plan in a letter to his wife, Lucy. Knox explained his perspective behind Washington’s decision to cross in the first place. The enemy “had obliged us to retire on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, by which means we were obliged to evacuate or give up nearly all the Jerseys.”

Not long after the Continentals formed their camp, they discovered “the preservation of Philadelphia was a matter exceedingly precarious — the force of the enemy three or four times as large as ours.” Knox was often the first to analyze the strength of the enemy, based on their arms. He noted the British army had scattered their troops at “distant places in New Jersey,” but Trenton’s “cantonments” were the largest. “Trenton is an open town, situated nearly on the banks of the Delaware, accessible on all sides. Our army was scattered along the river for nearly 25 miles. Our intelligence agreed that the force of the enemy in Trenton was from two to three thousand, with about six field cannon, and that they were pretty secure in their situation,” he wrote of the Hessian regiment based there. Knox then used matter-of-fact terms to tell Lucy about the coldest and most challenging night of 1776. “Accordingly a part of the army, consisting of about 2,500 or 3,000 passed the River on Christmas night, with almost infinite difficulty, with 18 field-pieces. The floating ice in the River made the labor almost incredible,” he wrote, not even mentioning the challenge of finding enough boats to carry the men and ammunitions across and conducting the affair in silence. Two men died of frostbite after crossing the river. The army also left bloody footprints behind in the ice and snow. “The night was cold and stormy; it hailed with great violence; the troops marched with the most profound silence and good order,” he reported. But the sleet did not subside after they arrived on the New Jersey side.

The approach of daylight did not dissipate the hail or the storm. "The storm continued with great violence, but was in our backs, and consequently in the faces of our enemy,” he wrote. Knox then made an important conclusion after the crossing. Diligence had overcome the raging river. "However, perseverance accomplished what at first seemed impossible,” Henry Knox concluded of the Delaware crossing. PRAYER Father, thank you for the gift of faith that secures raging rivers and allows me to cross onto unknown shores. “When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth” (JOB 40:23).

Top Developments

2023 NDAA Rescinds DoD COVID Vaccine Mandate, Major Concerns Remain

On 23 December, President Biden signed the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into federal law. This key legislation allots $817B to the Department of Defense and requires Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind the mandate that members of the armed forces be vaccinated against COVID-19. "The department will fully comply with the law," Department of Defense officials said. "DoD remains committed to the health and safety of the force and to ensuring we are ready to execute our mission at all times." Earlier, Austin had vehemently opposed the proposal to remove the military vaccine mandate, claiming his mandate had saved hundreds of lives. In reality, 96 active-duty members have died of COVID-19 in nearly three years. 

Austin, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, famously contracted COVID-19 twice in 2022 alone, despite his obedience to his own mandate. Although he did not agree, President Biden approved ending the COVID-19 vaccine mandate within 30 days when he signed the NDAA. 

STARRS’ Chairman of the Board Lt Gen Rod Bishop (USAF, Ret) celebrates this action, “for correcting apparently illegal orders to coerce service members into taking an experimental vaccine,” but cautions the fight is not over. The legislation does not require reinstatement and other remedies for service members who were discharged, punished or had their careers otherwise adversely affected for not taking the Emergency Use Authorized vaccination.

James Baehr, Pelican Institute for Public Policy, published an article on 29 Dec pointing out that ending the mandate does not stop adverse administrative processing, nor remove negative documentation from service member records. He cites the case of an Army Master Sergeant with 16 years of service and eight combat deployments who was informed his unit would be proceeding with placing a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR) in his official record the week the NDAA was signed. As the article states: “a GOMOR on ones’ record – a counseling entry usually reserved for severe criminal misconduct – will normally result in his separation under the Quality Management Program. This program routinely searches a soldier’s permanent record for derogatory entries, like a GOMOR, and automatically flags them for administrative separation. Absent judicial relief, Master Sergeant Galey and other faithful service members will continue to be separated from the service through back-door administrative means.”

Over the New Year weekend a new shortfall came to light. Headquarters Department of the Army (HQDA) released fragmentary order 35 (FRAGO 35) to HQDA Execute Order (EXORD) 225-21 stating that the NDAA does not apply to the National Guard and Reserve forces because only the Secretary of Defense’s Aug 24, 2021 memorandum directive mandating the vaccine for active duty members was mentioned in the NDAA. The Nov 30, 2021 memo that expanded the mandate to National Guard and Reserve forces was not mentioned. The Daily Caller interviewed STARRS leaders for an article published on Jan 2, 2023. Lt Gen Bishop called FRAGO 35 “pretty egregious.”

Several other articles pertaining to these concerns are highlighted on the STARRS website at the bottom of the discussion about FRAGO 35.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) seeks to account for the damage the DoD’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate may have already done, and has asked Defense Health Agency Director Lt. Gen. Ronald J. Place to provide him with the total number of claims and hospitalizations filed with Tricare, the military's health coverage provider, since 2017. Moreover, Johnson asked for the number of COVID-19 related claims, along with data relating to the types of treatments and number of fatalities, since 2020. Johnson further seeks data on the total number of vaccinated service members and the number of deaths among them after receiving the shot. The Republican has given Lt. Gen Place until 9 Jan 2023 to produce the desired materials.  

A Call To Action

Thank you for expressing interest in STARRS. We encourage you to take an active role in our mission, to include educating your elected representatives at the local, state and national levels, and expressing your concerns. We also encourage you to educate your fellow citizens by speaking at gatherings, writing editorials for local papers, talking to school boards and encouraging others to join you and STARRS.

STARRS is a predominantly volunteer organization, but we have financial obligations to maintain webpages, subscribe to software, pay travel costs associated with presentations, legal expenses supporting service members fighting adverse actions associated with woke/progressive ideology, and other related matters. Your donations make all this possible and are greatly appreciated!

Share this information regarding the remaining issues with family, friends and colleagues. Flooding the offices of Senators and Representatives with requests to correct these shortfalls will go a long way in rectifying the situation! Feel free to use the following in your communication to your elected representatives:

Dear [elected rep],

Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was recently enacted into federal law, and while I welcome the NDAA provisions terminating the COVID-19 mandate for military personnel, this NDAA falls short of restoring those military members impacted to their former statuses.

Thus I implore you to sponsor and/or support legislation to implement two key, related provisions to: 1) clarify the scope of the termination of the COVID mandate so that it covers National Guard and Reserve forces in addition to regular forces – this measure would not be required but for the U.S. Army’s recently announced, highly controversial position that these NDAA provisions do not apply to the Army National Guard or Army Reserve and that the mandate will continue to apply to these augmenting forces (ref HQDA FRAGO 35 to EXORD 225-21); and 2) provide a path for reinstatement of all service members whose exemption requests were denied, as well as excising any COVID-mandate-related unfavorable actions from affected personnel records, so that these members may resume their careers without fears of lingering adverse administrative impacts. 

Many military members’ careers were put on hold, threatened and/or terminated due to their good-faith objections over and requests for exemptions from taking the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) COVID vaccine. These members were – and are – patriotic countrymen dedicated to serving their country. Further, these well-trained individuals – a great many of whom having extensive, irreplaceable combat experience – have earned the gratitude of their nation for their honorable service. At the very least, this gratitude should extend to providing them the same rights and privileges as those owed to all other military members who have honorably served. You have an opportunity to right these wrongs by stepping up to the plate to act on behalf of these courageous members. I earnestly hope that you do – for their sake.

I close by reiterating my heartfelt request that you act on my behalf as well as that of these fine individuals to fulfill the full intent and scope of the NDAA’s COVID-mandate-termination provisions, so that these provisions will apply to all military members impacted by this wrongful mandate, and so that these patriotic countrymen can continue to serve in good standing without the shadows of the now-demised COVID mandate haunting their careers.

Best Regards,

[your signature] 

STARRS is Having an Impact!

STARRS’ tireless efforts to educate members of Congress about the risks of the COVID vaccine mandate appear to have generated tremendous momentum. Take a look!

Boots on the Ground Perspectives on Racism and Radicalism

A series of texts sent by USMA cadets to parents has been shared with STARRS members:

In-Class Accusations of Being a Racist

“In Geography class we had a class on Racism. It references Ibram X. Kendi, a Marxist, definition of racism. And they talked about “how to be an antiracist.” They went on to say if you do not actively fight against racism that you may be a racist too. And then they referred to color blind racism and they said that it uses victim blaming as its approach.”

Woke Indoctrinations In Class

“In American Politics Class they talked about how CRT and the 1619 Project is not implemented because we are forced to agree, but because it is supposed to give us another perspective on American history. He said some Americans agree with this and it’s important for officers to know all sides. It is not because they are indoctrinating us; it’s because they are trying to show us different ways of thinking. The thing is though CRT and 1619 Project are both lies and are divisive. It’s not based off fact.”

General Corps Issues

• “Lee Barracks sign has been taken down”
• “A lot of Congressmen have requested for historical artwork to be taken down that depicts American history. On one there is a small depiction of the KKK”
• “A football player cadet in a class was told multiple times to keep his eyes on own paper. Two teachers witnessed him doing this. He was honor boarded and in trial, faced zero punishment. It is unknown whether he was found guilty or not.”

Politicizing in the Classroom

“A teacher in class was talking to us about equity vs equality. She said, “…equality is not enough and not fair.” She talked about how Kamala Harris “box model” is what we should go for because that is the only way equality can be met. She also pointed to how the poor should be given everything to become equal with the rich.”

 “A student in class asked, “Is Liz Cheney a moderate Republican because she isn’t like Trump, who is an extremist Republican?” The teacher then said, “I don’t necessarily want to call a former president an extremist.” He later came back to the subject and he said, ‘This person is not an Extremist Republican like President Trump.’ I think he realized what he said so he quickly said, ‘as **** alluded to earlier…”

“On a separate matter, today in Physical Geography class, better known as DIRT, we did a lesson on cultural geography. A big portion of the class was dedicated to cultural changes. We talked about statues being taken down. We watched a 15 minute long video on a statue of Teddy Roosevelt getting taken down. This is the video we watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL2CW8bZ0to

I know many of you don’t have time to watch a 15 minute video so here are some things that stood out. The national park system is racist because it drove out Indians. Teddy Roosevelt was a racist. Roosevelt was an imperialist in Africa and a white suppremmist [sic]. And they even switched to a BLM chant that was calling out democracy.”

Toleration of Anti-Semitism

[A foreign-exchange cadet at USMA from Qatar] is “allowed to grow out his beard and …is in some form of a member of royalty. He was allowed to leave [West Point] to go watch the World Cup back in Qatar. Look up House of Al-Thani. Anyway, he hates Israel and is not afraid to announce it. The guy posted a video that can be found off Al Jazeera of an Israeli journalist going up to a Qatari man and the man was not willing to be interviewed and the comments section was full of Jew hatred. Imagine if any one else did this. They would be reported. It’s highly disturbing that he is allowed to be here spewing that kind of rhetoric.”

December STARRS Board of Directors Meeting Highlights

STARRS Chairman of the Board, Lt Gen Rod Bishop (USAF, Ret), opened the December 2022 Board of Directors (BOD) meeting by congratulating the STARRS Team on the recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) achievement which ended the military vaccine mandate.

The Vice Chairman of the Board, Maj Gen Joe Arbuckle (USA, Ret.), briefed a strategic review about where STARRS was and where it is headed. Here are his highlights:

• Successes
• STARRS is respected
• STARRS has many Congressional and media contacts
• On-going legal actions supporting service members
• Ending Mandatory VAX – NDAA!
• Woke military” label has caught on with Congress and media
• Strategic Goals
• End CRT/DEI indoctrination in the military
• Secure remedies for vaccine and mandate harm
• Replace CRT/DEI policies with a merit-based equivalent
• Hammer “woke military” in public communication
• Educate lawmakers about Marxist foundations and dangers of DEI to military unity, mutual respect and mission effectiveness

Are You Interested in Getting Involved!

The Intellectuals

STARRS President Interviews Scott McQuarrie and Larry Purdy:

Raced-based Admissions in Military

Service Academies

Featured News

STARRS and Judicial Watch Team Up to Get Answers to Overdue FOIA Request

On 19 December 2022, Judicial Watch announced they filed a FOIA lawsuit on behalf of STARRS against the U.S. Department of Defense for Air Force Academy records regarding “systemic racism,” as well as records of Critical Race Theory programming at the Academy.

West Point Superintendent Just Canceled “Offensive” President Abraham Lincoln

West Point graduate John Hughes' recent article highlights the Wokeism underway and endorsed by US Military Academy Superintendent LTG Steven Gilland. The superintendent wants to “remove, rename or modify assets and real property at the United States Military Academy (USMA) and West Point installation that commemorate or memorialize the Confederacy or those who voluntarily served with the Confederacy.”

One of General Gilland’s targets for removal and subsequent storage on post is three large bronze panels (called a triptych) that adorn the entrance to Bartlett Hall, a science building at the USMA. Dedicated in 1965, the three bas-relief murals depict the history of the U.S., portraying "both tragedy and triumph" in America's past. Prominent in the center panel is a depiction of President Abraham Lincoln. But elsewhere on the mural (left panel) is a frank representation of the Ku Klux Klan revealed as a regrettable, but real part of American history.

Previous reviews concluded to only remove the KKK likeness on one of the tablets, vice removing one tablet or all three tablets altogether. But the superintendent favors Woke over the frank truth, and condemned the entire artifact, even the noble historical depiction of our 16th president.

The Midnight Ride’s Paul Runyan Speaks with Calvert Task Group’s Tom Burbage about Fighting Woke in the Military

This podcast showcases Paul Runyan’s interview of Capt (USN, Ret) Tom Burbage (USNA ’69) about a range of military topics, including how the Calvert Task Group (calverttaskgroup.com) fought to keep a top student at Annapolis from being expelled for pro-police tweets during the riots of 2020, how the war in Ukraine is depleting our own military's ammunition and stocks, and whether our defense industrial base is prepared for a possible war with China. 

The Woke Military

US Military Going to the Dogs

Rod Dreher, a senior editor at The American Conservative, writes this emotional essay about more Wokeism in the US military. A recently retired Army colonel posted images of himself and his Army captain male lover on Twitter, wearing leather dog masks. Col Brian T. Connelly is shown sporting a leather dog mask while having a photo taken that resembles an official US Army photo. The mask is involved in “Puppy play” (a.k.a “pup play”) a form of consensual, adult role-play popular in the gay leather community, where participants dress up and embody the characteristics of a dog. Often, these so-called "pups" wear a leather dog mask among other sexual paraphernalia.  

On Dec 13, House Democrats staved off a floor debate over “Woke” military policies regarding force diversity, but likely only for a short while. This served as a preview of one likely friction point on Capitol Hill in coming months. At issue are a series of military policies on increasing diversity, allowing transgender recruits and hunting for racial bias in the armed forces.

House Republicans vowed to return to the issue when they take the majority in the chamber, which happens at the start of 2023. “Next year, the new majority will be conducting robust oversight of these issues and we will demand accountability from this administration,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, (R-AL), who is expected to take over as House Armed Services Committee chairman.  

Our Military Needs Officers Chosen for Their Qualifications, Not Skin Color

President of the Center for Military Readiness Elaine Donnelly argues the Defense Department should eliminate all CRT programs, discontinue the use of racial preferences, and end all forms of race-based discrimination. She postulates this would also avoid racial tensions that weaken morale and cohesion. Furthermore, she asserts CRT “anti-extremist” programs and divisive use of racial preferences weaken mutual trust and cohesion, which are essential for combat effectiveness.  

A Call to Action

Lt Col Michael E. Uecker, USAF (Ret.) and USAFA ’71 writes this essay sharing his thoughts on what has happened to the Air Force Academy while suggesting a course of action to reinstitute education and training emphasizing teamwork and leadership, and the values that have made our Nation the most attractive goal for immigrants and refugees from the world over.