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Gallagher Statement on Study Recommending Marine Corps Drop Gendered Salutations for Drill Instructors

December 21, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) ranking member of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, today released the following statement in response to a new report recommending that the Marine Corps drop gender-specific salutations for drill instructors. 

"A $2 million, Marine Corps-funded academic study of gender-integrated training recommends eliminating the use of the gendered terms 'Sir' and 'Ma'am' for drill instructors. The study claims, without any empirical evidence or citations of published research, that gender identifiers are problematic because:

  1. 'Gendered identifiers have the potential to remind recruits of negative stereotypes they hold and could subconsciously affect the way recruits react to drill instructors of different genders.'

  2. 'Gendered salutations and responses prime recruits to think about or visually search for a drill instructor’s gender first, before their rank or role.'

  3. There is 'the possibility of misgendering drill instructors, which can unintentionally offend or cause discord.'

"Obviously this is insane. I hope the Commandant not only rejects the recommendation but also asks for his money back. The Marine Corps may have problems, but the use of gendered terms at boot camp is not one of them. Furthermore, our military leaders continue to deny wokeism exists in the military despite spending millions of defense dollars on woke projects. Playing such dumb games in academia or entertainment is one thing, but now we are meddling with the life-or-death business of warfighting. If we keep integrating such woke nonsense into deterrence, then we will see more deterrence failures."

Rep. Gallagher has repeatedly called out the damaging effects of wokeism in the Armed Forces, calling it a distraction from warfighting and a factor that is driving servicemembers out of active duty "in droves."