1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Greetings. I am a voting constituent in rural west Texas. “Loyalty is my oath.” If you aren’t familiar with the history of this statement, now would be the time to acquaint yourselves. Trump has purged the country’s military leadership. He has fired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown, who Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested got the job only because he is Black. He has fired Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who was the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and whom Hegseth called a “DEI hire.” As soon as he took office, Trump fired U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan, giving her just three hours to vacate her home on base. And Friday night, Trump also fired the Air Force vice chief of staff, General James Slife. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated he intends to fire the JAGs—the military lawyers who administer the military code of justice—for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. “Among many other things it’s the military lawyers who determine what is a legal order and what’s not,” Talking Points Memo pointed out. “If you’re planning to give illegal orders they are an obvious obstacle.” “Now that Trump has captured the intelligence services, the Justice Department, and the FBI,” military specialist Tom Nichols wrote in The Atlantic, “the military is the last piece he needs to establish the foundations for authoritarian control of the U.S. government.” I want to know if any of my elected officials, who took an oath to the country, not a person, have a problem with a president reorganizing our military as his own personal militia? Do you have any moral hesitation with the American military being reconstituted as a lawless, seemingly barbaric, parody of a Rambo movie? Our military is already the deadliest force on the planet. Service members serve with honor. Will you be happy to have the honor in service become an antiquated notion? Will you be happy with “Loyalty is my oath” as the new military creed? Or will you continue your silent acceptance of just another slap to America’s face?