Active duty military personnel take the oath of citizenship aboard the USS Midway. (File photo courtesy of the USCIS)
The U.S. military has always been “woke.” That word gets tossed around as an insult today, but history proves progress, diversity, equity, inclusion and justice have been among the military’s greatest strengths. Without them, the ranks would’ve been nothing more than an all-white boys’ club, and that doesn’t win wars.
The Tuskegee Airmen were Black pilots who flew in World War II despite segregation. They defended this country while proving that courage and skill know no color. Or the Montford Point Marines, the first Black Marines, forced into a segregated camp in North Carolina, yet they fought valiantly in World War II, and made the corps stronger. Their service forced America to live up to its ideals of liberty and justice for all, and the promise that all citizens are equal under the Constitution they swore to defend.
In 1948, President Truman ordered the military to be desegregated, years before schools, restaurants or buses. That was “woke.” And it worked. The military became stronger because it finally recognized that America couldn’t fight with one hand tied behind its back.
In 1918, Opha Mae Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps. From that crack in the wall grew a flood: women flew helicopters in Vietnam, commanded combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan, and today only make up nearly 17% of the force. I served with women in combat; I’ve patrolled through Afghanistan with them when it was over 120 degrees out. They fought like Marines, full stop, and without qualifiers such as “women” or “female.” They are Marines and conducted themselves as such.
Immigrants have long served. In World War II, Gordon Paiʻea Chung-Hoon, the son of Chinese and Hawaiian parents, commanded the USS Sigsbee after it was crippled by a kamikaze strike and earned the Navy Cross and Silver Star. He also has a destroyer named after him (DDG 93). At the same time, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up almost entirely of Americans of Japanese descent, many of whom had families imprisoned in internment camps, became the most decorated Army regiment in U.S. history.
Native American Code Talkers turned their languages into unbreakable codes in the Pacific. Latino Marines fought with distinction in Vietnam. Thousands of immigrants continue to earn citizenship through service today.
And after years of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military finally allowed LGBTQ Americans to serve openly. Nothing collapsed. The mission continued. In 2013, retired Navy SEAL Kristin Beck came out as transgender after 20 years of service, including with SEAL Team 6. Her story makes clear what we already know: LGBTQ service members have always been here. The only thing that changed was our honesty about it. These members exude more courage than most service members can fathom.
Every expansion of who can serve, Black Americans, women, Asian Americans, Native Code Talkers, Latino Marines, immigrants, and LGBTQ service members, was met with hand-wringing and fear. Every time, critics predicted chaos. And every time, they were wrong. Inclusion never weakened the military. It only made it more lethal, more capable, more American.
The truth remains: the military has always been the leading edge of social integration. It desegregated before the country did, opened combat roles to women before corporate America opened boardrooms, and recognized same-sex spouses before most states legalized marriage.
Here’s the bottom line: without progress, without “wokeness,” today’s all-volunteer force simply could not exist. You cannot meet recruiting goals without marginalized communities. You cannot project American power worldwide if nearly half the force comes from these communities and are treated as second-class citizens. Readiness depends on inclusion.
Ask yourself this: “What if the military had never gone woke?” Today, women make up roughly 17% of the force, Black Americans 20%, Latinos almost 20%, and almost half of all active-duty personnel are people of color. Thousands of immigrants enlist every year. LGBTQ service members fill critical roles across every branch.
Strip all that away, and what’s left? A hollowed-out, all-white, all-male force, too small to meet recruiting needs, too narrow to represent the country it defends, and too weak to remain the strongest fighting force on earth.
The military has always been woke. And thank God for it.
Jonathan Chang is a veteran and San Diego resident.
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