Those amused or alarmed by the pictures of former Army Chief and Australian of the Year David Morrison mincing about in women’s shoes to combat sexism, and his blasts against an overly masculine culture in the Army and elsewhere, may try to console themselves that this is a one-off aberration.

However, it doesn’t look like that. It appears that the defence establishment is either following the leads of Morrison, the politically-correct general par excellence (whose combat record, according to Wikipedia, is not exactly… er… extensive), or he is the most prominent public expression of its ideals.

A decorated former Australian Naval Officer told me recently: ‘I am glad to be out of the Navy. When I started it was “to fight and win at sea”. Now it is all about social crap with endless compulsory annual programs about suicide prevention, drugs and alcohol awareness, equity and diversity, workplace safety, encouraging more women blah blah blah.

‘The funny thing is that Nelson would not be allowed in because of one arm one eye stuff.’ (Though Nelson’s reputed dying words to his captain, ‘kiss me, Hardy,’ might have met with approval.) Everyone thinks all of this is crap except for those people who use it to leverage themselves promotion.’

Another much-decorated Australian serviceman, Major Bernard Gaynor, is fighting a battle against homosexual servicemen marching in uniform in ‘Gay Pride’ parades that also mock and insult Christianity with obscene displays before audiences that include children. He was dismissed from the Army for this (he is appealing, a slow and extremely expensive process.) Gaynor served three tours of duty in Iraq, has several awards recognising outstanding conduct including the US Meritorious Service Medal for operational performance in Iraq in 2008-09.

Meanwhile RAAF Squadron-Leader Vince Chong received a gold commemoration from the vice-chief of the ADF for his efforts as chairman of the Australian Defence Gay and Lesbian Information Service. The activities of this body include having servicemen and women marching in uniform in the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Our defence personnel are normally prohibited from taking part in any political activities when in uniform. However, according to its own report, features and objective of the Mardi Gras included: ‘Providing resources and opportunities to our community for creative and political expression, and the provision of a platform for political measures and protest.’

Sifting through the voluminous and legalistic Army correspondence on the Gaynor matter, one thing stands out: the Australian Defence Force, in the interests of political correctness, appears to have ditched any notion of equal treatment. Gaynor appears to have been judged on the basis of being a Catholic. ‘If you then knew that on this excursion [to Mardi Gras] my children would be exposed to nudity, sexually explicit activity and groups promoting sado-masochistic homosexual practices and clad in leather like they were about to begin, you would probably think about calling in the child protection agency,’ Gaynor said on his website.

Gaynor had by then left the regular army but was still employed part-time in the Army Reserve. As one of his last acts before retiring, the former Chief of the Defence Force, General David Hurley, sent Gaynor a letter telling him his commission even as a reserve officer had been terminated because the manner in which he expressed his beliefs was inconsistent with ADF policies. Gaynor has also called attention to a Defence report released recently which states, for starters, that the male-dominated, Anglo-Australian demographic in the military ‘is no longer desirable’. Perhaps it should recruit more actively among Isis or the Taliban. One wonders if those responsible for the report have heard of Fort Hood.

He comments ‘But perhaps the most astounding thing about the report is that it also states that Defence directives and doctrine need to ‘counter the ideal identity of the Anglo-Australian male soldier renowned for acts of courage’.

‘Quite simply,’ Gaynor comments, ‘our military members are being told that they are not to be courageous anymore because it leads minorities to feel less welcome.’ So much for Australia’s 96 Victoria Cross and 22 George Cross recipients or the swag of VCs won by Gurkhas in British forces. Meanwhile, however, although soldiers may now march in uniform with half-naked, buttock-flashing ‘nuns’, the Army is cracking down on ‘unacceptable’ behavior so long as it is heterosexual. A recent case involves innocent, legal and normal, if vulgar, behavior. It is alleged one of Australia’s combat battalions, back from Afghanistan, employed (quel horreur!) topless waitresses at a party. The corporal responsible for organising it was demoted and imprisoned for disobeying orders that the waitresses remain clothed before having the sentence quashed and his rank re-instated.

Sexual Discrimination Commissioner Ms Elizabeth Broderick said that the incident showed it would take strong and visible leadership to change the army’s ‘Macho culture’. Perhaps more desirable activities for Australian combat soldiers would be jazz ballet, multicultural flower arranging, and the odd black belt in the dreaded origami. It seems obvious that political correctness will lower combat efficiency, and imperil national security. Further, a Turnbullised Liberal Party and Turnbullised defence forces will also complete the existential attack on organised, institutional conservatism in Australia,

In all this, the ADF appears to be marching in a cultural lock-step with the obsessive political correctness that the Obama Administration has forced on the US Military. Among the latest initiatives from the Administration, the US Navy and Marine Corps have been told to abolish job-titles ending in ‘man’ (eg signalman). ‘It’s just more of an assault of Secretary Mabus on the culture of the Navy, trying to make as many changes as he can, hoping that you throw enough stuff on the wall that some of it will stick. And for that, he will pin it as a legacy,’ said retired US Navy Captain Chuck Nash, also a Fox News military analyst

‘It starts at the top with this whole thing bringing in transgenders, putting women in infantry combat units or at least putting them up where they can compete to get in there and then they’re failing as they go through this process,’ Nash told WND and Radio America, predicting that standards for infantry and special forces will likely be lowered so more women can qualify for those roles. He said many other Navy vets are appalled by the social engineering of the armed forces.

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