North Carolina senators, congressman concerned about Fort Liberty training and anti-abortion advocates – WWAYTV3

FAYETTEVILLE, NC (WWAY) — A number of senators and congressmen, including Rep. David Rouzer and Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis, are concerned about military training at Fort Liberty.

In the letter, the senators and congressmen claim an anti-terrorism training conducted at Fort Liberty depicted anti-abortion advocates as terrorists.

The letter claims the anti-terrorism slide was briefed to a group of soldiers as recently as Wednesday, July 10.

A statement released by Fort Liberty that these slides were not vetted by appropriate approval authorities.

The full text of the letter is reproduced below:

We write regarding social media reports that anti-terrorism training conducted at Ft. Liberty, North Carolina depicts Pro-Life Americans as terrorists.  Specifically, the slides identify National Right to Life, “Choose Life” license plate holders, and anyone who opposes the Supreme Court’s rightfully overturned decision in Roe v. Wade, which was rightfully overturned by the Supreme Court, as members of terrorist groups.  Smearing Pro-Life Americans is despicable and emblematic of the ongoing politicization of the military under the Biden-Harris administration.

The American public expects the Department of Defense and its personnel to defend the homeland from actual terrorists, not Americans who seek protections for children in the womb. Labeling Pro-Life organizations as threats challenges servicemembers’ moral obligation to defend and protect even the smallest among us. In fact, around half of all Americans identify as Pro-Life.  It is no wonder that the Army is struggling to recruit young men and women to join its ranks when it appears the service attacks their values and promotes a woke agenda rather than improving readiness and lethality.

While Ft. Liberty’s statement asserts that the slides “do not reflect the views of the … U.S. Army or the Department of Defense”, the American people are rightfully concerned that training of this kind is being disseminated in the first place and possibly at other military installations. The American people deserve to be assured that these slides truly do not reflect the Army’s views, that a full investigation will be conducted, and that any offending employees will be properly held accountable. Finally, we must be assured that similar materials are not being utilized at other installations across the Army. 

Therefore, we request responses to the following questions no later than July 29, 2024: 

• Is it official Army policy to identify Pro-Life Americans and Pro-Life Organizations as “terrorist groups”?
• How long have these slides been briefed to soldiers and how many soldiers have been briefed with these slides? 
• What is the current process by which the Army reviews anti-terrorism training materials disseminated on Army bases? 
• Who are the appropriate approval authorities charged with vetting training materials disseminated to soldiers across the Army?
• What action is the Army taking to investigate the distribution of training materials depicting Pro-Life Americans as terrorists? 
• What statutes or Army regulations were potentially violated and what action is the Army taking with regard to any offending employee? 
• Will you commit to an installation-by-installation review to ensure that these or similar materials are not being disseminated elsewhere and that Army anti-terrorism training aligns with DoD anti-terrorism standard guidance and training? 
• Will you commit, in writing, that these slides will no longer be used and all future training materials reviewed will align with current DoD anti-terrorism guidance?  

We look forward to your prompt attention and response.