Limbaugh died nearly four years ago, but his definition of a country's fighting force rings more true today than when he first said it. From the volatile Middle East to the unpredictable Vladimir Putin in Russia to Xi Jinping's Communist China, the world is increasingly volatile and unpredictable. 

While I'm not a military expert, common sense suggests that America's military must be the best it can be, and as Limbaugh suggested, including the U.S. military in the left's laboratory of "woke" social experiments is patently insane, yet that's exactly what we've seen for four years, courtesy of failed President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and now-retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley.

As my colleague Streiff reported in mid-November, President-elect Donald Trump's "transition team transition team is considering an executive order that would send into retirement any three- or four-star general deemed "lacking in requisite leadership qualities." If fairly applied, that standard would force a super-majority of the 44 four-star and 162 three-star officers off active duty." 

Translation: Trump plans to root out “woke” ideology in the military, pronto.

READ MORE: Trump Preparing Executive Order to Cull the Military of Woke Generals and Admirals

Other Republicans have spoken out about the U.S. military's "woke" priorities over the last four years, but have done virtually nothing about it. That may be about to change.

Military veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, while not yet confirmed, has repeatedly attacked the military leadership’s embrace of “woke” culture, which usually refers to so-called "transgenderism," racial identity politics, and the silliness of gender pronouns.  

During a recent recent appearance on "The Shawn Ryan Show" podcast, Hegseth said:

First of all you gotta fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke s*** has got to go. Either you're in for war-fighting and that's it. That's the only litmus test we care about.

Exactly. While words without actions have been a bane of the Republican party for years, particularly in Congress, the prospect of Hegseth leading the Pentagon with Trump in the White House and GOP control of both chambers presents a golden opportunity to undo four years of wreckage under Biden. 

READ MORE: Pete Hegseth Lays Down a Marker in His Looming War on DEI

Here's more:

The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) released a list of 20 officers who Hegseth should fire. Notably, during his viral interview with Joe Rogan, Trump told a story about how military leaders in Washington, D.C. told Trump that destroying ISIS quickly wasn’t possible, but when Trump visited the military leaders on the ground, he heard a different story. Those commanders, Trump said, told him it was doable but Washington, D.C. had tied their hands.

Other anecdotes highlight the prevalence of the newfound way of thinking for Armed Forces. For instance, as The Center Square previously reported, official training materials for West Point cadets included warnings about white privilege.

AAF President Thomas Jones wrote in a letter to Hegseth earlier this week;

As global tensions rise, with Iran on the march, Russia at war, and China in the midst of a massive military buildup, we cannot afford to have a military distracted and demoralized by leftist ideology. Those who were responsible for these policies being instituted in the first place must be dismissed.

And Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Trump’s pick for secretary of State, told The Center Square in 2023 that "woke activists" were “hollowing out our military."

The United States military is the greatest fighting force in the world, but woke activists in the Biden Administration are undermining military readiness, cohesion, and purpose. We cannot allow these left-wing crazies to hollow out our military. The world is an increasingly dangerous place and America’s security requires a strong military capable of deterring – and if need be, defending – our nation.

A Defense Department comptroller report in 2022 included a fiscal year 2023 $86.5 million request for "dedicated diversity and inclusion activities," as well as language showing the importance of DEI to the military.

The Bottom Line

The time is now. Prior to the election, I shuddered to think about what four years of a Harris-Walz administration would do to our military, but now? The U.S. military is as good of a place as any to begin the "war on woke" in earnest.