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Project 2025 – Department of Defense Notes – February/March 2025

FILE: Marines load into a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter. (Cpl. Jackson Dukes/U.S. Marine Corps)March 12, 2025 / Libby Frank / NNOMY Report - The report opens with a comment on the nature of war which they warn has become too dependent on technology. From the report: “the most powerful weapon systems will remain the six inches between the ears of our citizens and the strength of their hearts and content of their souls.”

It also points (several times) to China as the biggest threat. It also notes the threat of Russia. It refers to the invasion of Ukraine as “Vladimir Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine” which seems to conflict with Trump’s view.

It notes that weapon sales are way down and recommends ending informal congressional notification of such sales. The review process is not required; it is a practice by which the Department of State provides a preview of prospective arms transfers before Congress is formally notified.

What will be the ramification of this change? Shouldn’t arms sales get Congressional review? What if Trump decides to negotiate a big sale to Russia as a tradeoff for something he wants?

DOD Personnel

It opens the section by talking about how our military makes extraordinary sacrifice which is not appreciated by the American public. Also “Young civilians who would thrive in a military environment are disenfranchised when educators and influencers discourage them from learning about military service and preparing for the honor of wearing America’s uniform.” (I guess that’s us.}

 

Rescue Recruitment and Retention

  1. Appoint a Special Assistant to the President who will maintain liaison with Congress, DOD, and all other interested parties on the issue of recruiting and retention.

Need to find out who is appointed.

  1. Improve recruiting by suspending the use of the recently introduced MHS Genesis system that uses private medical records of potential recruits at Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS), creating unnecessary delays and unwarranted rejections.

This is what I found on MHS:

MHS GENESIS is the electronic health record for the Military Health System (MHS). It is the first Department of Defense-wide electronic health record to be used by all military treatment facilities. The system provides a single, common record of medical and dental information, connecting healthcare teams across the DOD, VA, DHS, and private sector providers. By the time that MHS GENESIS is fully implemented throughout all of the DoD, patients will be able to receive care from any military treatment facility knowing that their health records will follow them.

I fail to understand why this would cause delays. More likely they want to eliminate it because it gives the DoD a complete picture of the recruit’s health status. In general there is an advantage of having all of an individual’s health records in one place.

  1. Improve military recruiters’ access to secondary schools and require completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery(ASVAB)—the military entrance examination—by all students in schools that receive federal funding.

By requiring every high school student to take the ASVAB this will not only give the recruiters access to contact information but allows the recruiter to customize their approach. The ASVAB is supposed to be a career evaluation exam. It’s supposed to tell the student what they’re best suited for. I can see the recruiter using that information to develop a “pitch”; to create a more direct and intentional sales pitch.

  1. Encourage Members of Congress to provide time to military recruiters during each townhall session in their congressional districts.

 Could they be forced to give equal time to peace recruiters?

  1. Increase the number of Junior ROTC programs in secondary schools

I believe there is a limit of 4,000 JROTC units. What would be needed in order to eliminate the limit and/or raise it? An act of Congress?

Under 10 U.S.C. §2031, as amended in 2023 (P.L. 118-31 §551), DOD is required to maintain not fewer than 3,400 and not more than 4,000 units.

 

Restore standards

Expel recruits with gender dysphoria. Make physical fitness requirements consistent with the job.

I assume that means the standards will be lower for a desk job vs a foot soldier.

 

Restore faith in the force

They note that only 45% have faith in the military; down from 70% in 2018. But the ways they see to restore faith make no sense:

  1. Strengthen support for chaplains
  2. Codify language so military officers know that their primary responsibility is building the force; not social engineering agenda. (“Social engineering?”)
  3. Reinstate service members who refused to get a COVID vaccine
  4. Eliminate Marxist indoctrination and critical race theory and abolish DEI. (Seriously? Do they even know the fundamentals of Marxism?)
  5. Restrict the use of social media
  6. Audit the course content at military academies to remove Marxist indoctrination.
  7. Remove policies that allow transgender to serve

How do ANY of these things restore American’s faith in the military? People’s faith has been shaken by the increasing problems with sexual assault, PTSD, on-base violence, etc.

 

Selective Service (from Edward Hasbrouck)

Heritage Foundation project wants to weaponize Selective Service registration against immigrants

According to an exclusive report by Fox News, the Oversight Project of the Heritage Foundation is filing Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Selective Service System and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records of how many “illegal immigrants” may have violated US law by failing to register with the SSS for a possible future military draft. The FOIA request alleges that, “there is widespread criminal non-compliance by such aliens”.

Failing to register with the Selective Service System is a crime only if it is “knowing and willful”, which it usually isn’t. Most immigrants are unaware, until the question comes up on an application for naturalization, that they are supposed to sign up for a possible U.S. draft even if they aren’t U.S. citizens.

The Project 2025 playbook doesn’t explicitly mention Selective Service registration or the possibility of a military draft. President Biden never appointed a Director of Selective Service, leaving the SSS under an Acting Director throughout his term. President Trump has not yet appointed a Director of the SSS for his second term – leaving the same holdover Acting Director in charge, for now – and has yet to make any statement with respect to Selective Service registration or a possible draft.

Multiple sources cited in the above report


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