Rep. Jim Banks questions West Point dropping ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ from mission statement

WASHINGTON – The chairman of the House Republican “anti-woke caucus” fired off a letter Monday to US Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland questioning West Point’s recent move to drop its “Duty, Honor, Country” motto from its mission statement.

“I do not understand the decision to remove ‘Country’ from USMA’s mission statement,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) wrote in the letter, obtained exclusively by The Post.

While Banks acknowledged that “the updated mission statement replaced that phrase with ‘Army Values,’ which include loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage,” he pointed out that “notably missing from this list is Country.”

“Duty, Honor, County” has been the motto of the US Military Academy at West Point since 1898. The motto isn’t changing, but a decision to take those words out of the school’s lesser-known mission statement is generating outrage in certain quarters. AP

The sudden swap drew criticism from some conservatives who viewed the new mission statement as an example of the military school pushing “woke” policies.

Former Vice President Mike Pence even used the controversy in a fundraising email Monday, asking recipients to vote in a poll about the change before prompting them to donate to his political advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom.

While West Point has said that “Country is ‘reflected’ in loyalty,” Banks in his letter said he remained concerned by the school’s decision to drop the word explicitly from the mission statement.

“In his famed 1962 speech to the cadets of the USMA, General Douglas MacArthur warned that ‘unbelievers will say they are but words’ and that ‘[e]very pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker … will try to downgrade them,’” Banks wrote. “I’m afraid this decision reflects that very prediction.”

Rep. Jim Banks asked US Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland in a letter why the word “country” was removed from the mission statement. AP

In a statement to The Post last week, West Point spokesperson Col. Terence Kelly said it is not unusual for the school to change its mission statement, “as we have done (so) nine times in the past century,”

“Duty Honor Country is West Point’s motto and the foundation of our culture as it has been since 1898,” Kelley said. “We have updated our mission statement to now include the Army Values, loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.”

The school also added that the old phrase would still be present at West Point, as it is carved over entrances and displayed on cadets’ uniforms.

West Point spokesperson Col. Terence Kelly told The Post that the school has changed its mission statement nine times in the past century. AP

Still, Banks sought further explanation in his letter, asking a series of questions including why the decision was made and whether Gilland believes “that pride in and devotion to America’s national identity are important for West Point cadets.”

“This is bigger than just a few words in a mission statement,” the lawmaker told The Post Monday. “This time last year I wrote the West Point Superintendent because cadets were being forced to role play skits about using ‘preferred pronouns.’ Our military academies are the finest in the world and cannot fall victim to the woke virus infecting every level of government under the Biden administration.”

“At any point did you, your colleagues at West Point, or external stakeholders involved in updating themission statement, discuss the possibility that the former language was perceived as promoting
‘nationalism?’” Banks asked Gilland in his letter.

The Indianan, who is also a Navy Reserve officer, further inquired whether the school “instills patriotism” in its students and whether they are taught the “America is the greatest country in the history of the world.”