Sixty-two percent of citizens to responded to the poll agreed that the politicized nature of the military is one of the biggest problems the force faces today. This sentiment is surprisingly bipartisan and is felt by both Republicans and Democrats.

The Reagan Institute recently released its annual survey focused on the public opinion on national defense. This year a dismal 48% reported having “a great deal of confidence” in the military as a whole. In 2018, that number was 70%.

Respondents in the survey were an approximate 50/50 mix of liberals and conservatives. The Republican respondents overwhelmingly expressed concerns over “woke” practices while Democrat respondents shared that far-right and extremists in the ranks decreased their faith and confidence in the force overall.

Back in November, Republican representatives Marco Rubio and Chip Roy issued a report summarizing instances of critical race theory training and anti-White rhetoric. They argued that efforts towards diversity, equity, and inclusion decrease troop readiness.

A lot of these efforts by the Biden administration ties back to the issue of extreme views within the military. Although one report titled “Countering Extremist Activity Working Group” didn’t even manage to identified 100 cases of extremism among the 2.1 million active duty troops.

The Reagan National Defense poll has a margin of error of about 2%.