The Epoch Times featured Stan Fitzgerald, then president of Veterans for America First/Veterans for Trump, and retired Rear Adm. Charles R. Kubic in a July 20, 2023 in-depth report by Patricia Tolson examining proposals by 2024 presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis for changes within the U.S. military. Both Fitzgerald and Kubic were quoted extensively regarding military policy, veterans and the Republican presidential primary.
THE EPOCH TIMES — JULY 20, 2023
The Epoch Times featured retired Rear Adm. Charles R. Kubic and Stan Fitzgerald, then president of Veterans for America First/Veterans for Trump, in an in-depth report by journalist Patricia Tolson examining proposed changes to the U.S. military and the positions of 2024 Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.
The article was titled:
“IN-DEPTH: Admiral and Veterans Group Respond to DeSantis’ Promises for ‘Big Changes’ in Military”
Retired Rear Adm. Charles R. Kubic agreed that what he described as “wokeism” in the military had to go.
“It’s the whole DEI program and the whole issue of CRT and other things that are finding their way into military training,” Mr. Kubic told The Epoch Times, noting how the new system of selection and promotion within the military structure is “moving away from meritocracy towards more of a quota system.”
Mr. Kubic once served as one of Mr. Trump’s top foreign policy advisers.
In a May 20 letter to U.S. House leadership, Mr. Kubic and over 160 retired generals and admirals asked Congress to “take legislative action” to remove all DEI programs from the Department of Defense and to “ensure no DEI-related policies, programs, and funding are included in the 2024 [National Defense Authorization Act].”
“There’s always been an ‘affirmative action’ look in promotion boards for the past 30 years or so,” Mr. Kubic said. “But we’re proceeding into an area where the whole idea of DEI and quality of outcome rather than opportunity has infiltrated into both the promotion and the assignment system.”
Mr. Kubic said there’s a systemic “lack of confidence in command at the operational and tactical level within the military” because of what they see as “a cultural war against the ethos of the war-fighting military.”
“How many people are just tired of all the political pressure that’s coming on them to live within this new woke culture?” he asked, insisting that the whole premise of woke ideology “just doesn’t mesh with the ethos we need to have war-fighting units within our military.”
“I think that’s a big problem,” Mr. Kubic asserted. “Hopefully our next commander-in-chief will fix that, including who he or she will appoint to various positions within the political civilian bureaucracy within the military.”
The article then turned to Fitzgerald and Veterans for America First/Veterans for Trump.
Stan Fitzgerald, a retired police detective and president of Veterans for America First/Veterans for Trump, acknowledged that Mr. DeSantis “is a good governor” and had done a lot for the military in the state of Florida. However, he said Mr. Trump “has an established track record for running the country and he has always been good to veterans and first responders on a national level.”
Mr. Fitzgerald also told The Epoch Times that feedback from the millions of veterans and first responders who visit his organization’s website said “they are supporting President Trump” because they saw Mr. DeSantis as part of the “establishment.”
While Mr. Fitzgerald conceded it “may sound slanted” that the veterans group would back the former president as its candidate of choice, he said he was “not sure DeSantis has that kind of national support.”
On Nov. 15, 2022, Veterans for America First announced its support for Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign.
While commending the accomplishments of Mr. DeSantis as governor in support of Florida’s active military, veterans and their families, Mr. Fitzgerald said he believed Mr. Trump would have more success in bringing changes to the military because of his prior record in office.
He noted that the accomplishments of Mr. DeSantis had come in a state with Republican supermajorities in both the state House and Senate. A president, by comparison, would operate within the different political dynamics of Congress.
“Trump is the originator of the America First movement and it’s ‘Promises Made, Promises Kept,’” Mr. Fitzgerald said.
The article also cited the 2019 Veterans of Foreign Wars “Our Care” Report and discussed veterans’ responses regarding health care following implementation of the VA MISSION Act.
“Trump keeps his word. Everything he said he was going to do he did, if it was within his power,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “I’m not sure you will get that from Ron DeSantis.”
Mr. Kubic also offered his assessment.
“Trump would handle this in the first week,” he said.
“It would be a done deal,” Mr. Kubic asserted, explaining that he believed Mr. DeSantis could also make the changes, “but it wouldn’t be done as quickly.”
“He would have a settling-in period,” in which he could “listen to opposing points of view and try to understand or figure out what to do,” Mr. Kubic explained.
Discussing other presidential candidates, Mr. Kubic said they “would have a hard time figuring out how to handle this in this immense bureaucracy in the Department of Defense, particularly if they’ve never had any prior military service.”
“Trump would get it done right away. DeSantis would get it done in time. The others would struggle to get it done,” he said.
Original Article: IN-DEPTH: Admiral and Veterans Group Respond to DeSantis’ Promises for ‘Big Changes’ in Military
Reporter: Patricia Tolson
Publication: The Epoch Times
Published: July 20, 2023