The Coast Guard Academy Went From “Always Ready” to “Always Woke”
We must instruct officers in how to protect America’s waters, not social justice ideology.
Cross-posted from our latest project, RestoretheMilitary.com, where we're exposing the woke officers pushing DEI, Critical Race Theory, and transgenderism on our troops
New London, Connecticut’s U.S. Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is one of five federal service academies. It prepares cadets to become commissioned Coast Guard officers, and it falls under the oversight of the Homeland Security Department. The Coast Guard is responsible protecting America’s coastlines, but it’s been penetrated with woke indoctrination that’s weakened the force.
The USCGA leadership team is headed up by Superintendent Rear Admiral Michael J. Johnston who took over under the Biden administration in May 2023. He assumed command during a time the academy was caught up in a decades-long sexual assault cover-up called Operation Fouled Anchor. A group of 13 former cadets brough a lawsuit against the Academy for sexual abuse claims dating from the 1980s through 2017 that were not addressed. It was also discovered the Academy and Coast Guard leadership reportedly tried to hide results of an investigation into mishandled sexual assault complaints which sparked bipartisan outrage from Congress.
While Johnston’s primary focus should have been to address the concerns around sexual assaults at the Academy, he prioritized implementing woke initiatives. In January 2024 he signed the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan 2024–2026, a massive DEI plan to overhaul the academy’s culture to make it politically correct. Not once does the document discuss how it would make America safer—because the emphasis was on creating a culture of divisiveness.
In a message to the entire Academy, Johnston signed the plan that emphasized, “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is everyone’s business and a community effort.” The plan also stressed the importance of affirmative action agendas to recruit diverse “cadets, faculty, and staff.”
The DEI action plan also advocated for a dashboard, disaggregated by race and gender, to measure future DEI efforts and accomplishments. It required “cultural competence” lessons be conducted in each athletic department twice a year. Leadership also advocated for creating a “diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership” minor.
The Coast Guard Academy also had affinity groups such as Diversity Peer Educators who served as “ears” in the corps to be inform to the DEI department of concerns. Soviet-esque snitches were embedded within this federal service academy.
Thankfully, President Trump eliminated these programs and policies after taking office. Yet Superintendent Johnston will remain in control of the academy until September 2025, leaving him in charge of de-woking the academy he helped penetrate with far-left policies.
This is unacceptable. America cannot afford officers who’ve demonstrated such an outrageous failure of judgment to remain in command of the next generation of officers. Coast Guard cadets deserve better leadership to get the academy re-focused on safeguarding the homeland instead of woke politics.
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