Washington, D.C. – A group of Republican U.S. Representatives, led by Mike Rogers (AL-03), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Jim Banks (IN-03), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Personnel, have sent a letter to Christine Wormuth, Secretary of the Army, seeking clarification and accountability regarding a Directorate of Emergency Services (DES) training session held at Fort Liberty. The training session reportedly characterized several prominent pro-life organizations as terrorist groups, which has sparked outrage among the lawmakers.
The letter, co-signed by 24 other Republican representatives, including Richard Hudson (NC-09), Joe Wilson (SC-02), and Elise Stefanik (NY-21), expressed deep concern over the content of the training. According to the letter, the training session labeled pro-life groups as violent extremists and suggested that their members posed a threat to military installations. Symbols associated with pro-life organizations, such as state-issued pro-life license plates, were allegedly identified as indicators of terrorism.
“We write today to express our outrage at a Directorate of Emergency Services (DES) training held at Fort Liberty that characterized pro-life organizations as ‘terrorist groups,'” the representatives stated. “The training labeled several prominent and well-respected pro-life groups as violent extremists. The training also indicated the members of these organizations are threats to the safety of military installations and designated symbols of pro-life groups, including state-issued pro-life license plates, as indicators of terrorism. This is truly shocking for an organization that insists on treating everyone with ‘dignity and respect.'”
The lawmakers called for immediate corrective action from the Army, urging them to issue a correction to all servicemembers who received the briefing, implement rules to prevent similar incidents in the future, and discipline those responsible for the training. They also requested a reassessment of Army Directive 2024-07 to ensure that conservative and religious beliefs are not mischaracterized as extremist activities.
The letter further highlighted the potential dangers of such training, noting that it could lead to unnecessary confrontations and profiling based on political leanings. “Training the installation gate guards to ensure that servicemembers and their families who have pro-life license plates should be considered suspicious and possible terroristic threats to the installation, is not only absurd but dangerous,” the representatives wrote.
In addition to the immediate actions, the representatives posed several questions to Secretary Wormuth, seeking detailed information about the development and approval of the training materials, the processes in place for reviewing and approving such briefings, and the extent of the use of these materials across other Army installations.
The representatives emphasized the importance of maintaining political neutrality within the military and respecting diverse viewpoints within the bounds of the law. They requested answers to their questions by July 25, 2024, to ensure transparency and accountability in addressing the issue.
This development comes amid ongoing discussions about the military’s approach to extremism and the balance between maintaining security and respecting constitutional rights. The response from the Army and the actions taken in response to the concerns raised by the representatives will be closely monitored in the coming weeks.
