Jason Beardsley was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Special Forces and before assuming the role of executive director of the Association of the United States Navy. He is calling on military leaders today to put their primary mission of protecting America and not advancing the left's agenda.Beardsley wrote recently a commentary for The Daily Signal on the difficulties of readiness and morale within the U.S. Navy. Beardsley claims that Wokeness is on the verge of poisoning our military and that it is claiming the military is heading toward utopia.According to him, his military experience taught him that radical ideas such as critical race theory are not appropriate for our armed forces.Beardsley said that in a firefight, the only question that ever occurred to him was: Do I have enough black men on the guns behind me or, Are there enough Puerto Ricans on my side? We need talented servicemen who respect and honor this country's heritage.After his military service, Beardsley founded and served as CEO of The Underground Movement, a patriotic clothing brand. The Daily Signal speaks with Beardsley about his love of America, and the work that he does at the Association of the United States Navy. You can listen to the interview below or view a lightly edited transcript.Today's show also features a discussion of your letters to the editor as well as a news story about a new patriotic song that was written and produced in high school by a teacher.Listen to the podcast or read the slightly edited transcript.Rob Bluey: Jason Beardsley joins us at The Daily Signal today. He is the Executive Director at the Association of the United States Navy. Jason, thank you so much for being here.Jason Beardsley : Rob, I am so grateful for your time. It is an honor.Bluey: We appreciate your military service, and the support you are providing for the military community. Before we go into the policy issues, I want you to share your experiences with both the U.S. Navy Special Forces and the U.S. Army. You've served overseas and you've fought in war against terror.Please tell us about this experience. Tell us about the moment that brought you to the military, and what was your first experience there.Beardsley: Thank you for your question. This country is my home. America is my favorite country. Even as a child, I knew that service was my calling. So I decided to join the Navy. I was interested in becoming a SEAL because I loved the idea and the special operations. Unfortunately, I was injured and had to leave the fleet. So, I went to Persian Gulf aboard a ship, and learned a lot.After my Navy service ended, I decided I was too greedy for punishment and went back to the Army. There I found my community, the Green Beretstrained, was selected, and met some of our greatest heroes. It was a great experience, and I love the work.After 9/11, we deployed extensively and started to pursue other fights overseas. We lost many friends but we learned a lot and served with some of the most elite. I ended my service in 2013 from this part of the career.Bluey: Is there any moment in your service that stood out? What has shaped your life?Beardsley: So many! That's a broad question.Bluey OK.Beardsley: I believe one of the most challenging experiences, especially when we have been in combat, is the, well, the near-death and the unknown behind the doors. What happens is that you are suddenly unable to control the outcome of your life. It really forces you to stop and think.What I realized and what it really meant was that I had to be able to reconcile with myself and accept the fact that you must know your ethics and morality before you can get into these situations. It happens too quickly once you get there. You must be prepared to put it all on the line and leave it behind. You can then move on to a potentially violent or near-death situation by allowing yourself to do this.This will help you see the big picture and make it easier to manage your life. My wife and my childrenI have three girls. That was most likely more than any other moment. However, it also brought me to a place of reconciliation.Bluey: Bluey, I'm sorry to say that.Beardsley: Yes.Bluey: Thank you for your generosity at The Daily Signal & The Heritage Foundation. Your new role is that of the Association of the United States Navy's executive director. Please tell us about the stories you have heard from the Coast Guard and Marines about your new position.Beardsley: Service members are proud of what they do. They are proud to be associated with some of the most prestigious brands in history. This country is based on the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. They are excited about this, and want to remind others and themselves about it.We also see them interested in America's defense. How can we make America great again? How can we keep it strong? They are interested in policies. They love the brotherhood they shared.It was an honor to play that role. It's been thrilling. It's been an exciting four to five months, six I believe, now.Bluey: That's fantastic. Congratulations on your new role.Beardsley: We are grateful.Bluey: Recently, the secretary of defense as well as the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff made comments about critical race theory which generated headlines that were not necessarily favorable for the military. These issues have been raised by you as well.What are you telling other military personnel, or those currently serving in the military, about these important issues? Not only are they confronting our elected leaders but also some military officials.Beardsley: Yes, we are telling people, and I believe that this is the case, that our voice as constituents is important. It has an impact on military and political leaders.If there are questions or concerns in an area, it is perfectly appropriate for people to voice their opinions to their senators, congressmen, or administrative officials.A group like the Association of the United States Navy is supposed to facilitate that voice. That's what we were trying to accomplish, which was to ensure that your feelings are communicated to those who will actually make the decisions.Bluey: You've been vocalizing your opinion. We appreciate the article you wrote for The Daily Signal, in which you discussed the challenges of military readiness.You also have big challenges. Yet, military leaders talk about wokeism, some of these topics, that some of us are left wondering why they are so important to our leaders.Beardsley:Bluey: Please tell us more about the things you hear and why this article was written.Beardsley: The articles were written because we heard one thing and saw another in writing or policy, and we tried to reconcile the two.We have heard from the top Navy leadersAdm. We have heard from top Navy leadersAdm. We have a proposal to fight China and pacing Iran, our nearest-peer rivals. Everyone agreed that we should increase our force and ensure that we have enough operational tempoSouth Pacific, Indo-Pacific and all other regions.They said that we needed 355 ships. That's a huge goal. In policy, they stated that they would reduce the number of ships. Biden requested that the budget reduce by eight. They suggested that 355 might not be so important and that it could be as low at 321.The budgets were in the opposite direction. We are moving in the opposite direction because of our budgets. However, we hear the Navy leaders who are in charge of sailors now that they need to be able to keep up with China. We have not yet done this.Bluey: It certainly is. The Index of U.S. Military Strength is produced every year by The Heritage Foundation, parent of The Daily Signal. The index ranks the Navy as marginal and tends to weaken in some areas.Beardsley:Bluey: What is the best way to get elected leaders and other officials to make these changes? Are they taking these suggestions seriously?Beardsley: They will need to hear from their constituents.The Navy issued a memorandum in June, I believe, about the priorities. No surprise, the priority list included submarines, jets and ship ships. They said that they couldn't do all three so we would only do one. They suggested that diversion, inclusion and equity are our most important priorities.What we are seeing is that while we recognize that material defense is important and valuable, they tell us that their critical priorities are social engineering and the need to police the military. These are two messages.The real reason we, the Association of the United States Navy are writing this is that people won't tell us anything if they don't know. We asked them to come in and communicate. Tell us if you like it. Tell us if you don't like it. We will communicate your opinion to the leaders.Bluey: You mentioned China and Iran as some of our enemies. That list would include Russia. What do they think they see in some of the debates taking place in this country? What do they think they are thinking when they look at the Biden budget proposal?Beardsley: To be honest, I believe they are in an enviable situation. China, which is now approaching 360 ships, understands that we have a goal to 355 ships and are at 296, and that we want to reduce that number. If you're China, you don't see a vacuum.More importantly, it is important to recognize that our priorities can be challenging for morale within the service. This happens when troops don't know what the rules are, what they are promoted, or what the leaders are doing inside the service. This reduces morale which is directly related to combat readiness and combat effectiveness. If you are an enemy, or a close-peer rival, Russia, China, etc., they may be quite happy about it.Bluey: Let's talk about morale. This was one of your Daily Signal topics. What are the factors that contribute to this? Are you facing a new challenge in the Navy, or something you have experienced while serving?Beardsley: Morale is a constant challenge. 1. It is the main driver. It is because I am excited to serve that I enter the service. My service is great and I enjoy it. The leaders are excellent leaders. But you won't be going anywhere. Do I want to retain my service? Do I return?However, if you notice a decrease in morale and back-to-back deployments then youre exhausted. You are leaving your family. The mission serves no specific purpose. You are burying your friends. You are witnessing the death of soldiers on the battlefield, and you keep coming back to it. Your leaders are vague or ambiguous about this. Then one must reconcile this.This leads to low retention and recruitment as well as problems within the force. We have seen Navy vessels collide with other vessels. According to our military, junior deck officers don't get enough time driving the ships. We just received a report saying that sailors don't get enough sleep and that our OPTEMPO was too high.This all leads to a decrease in morale. We were therefore concerned about the Navy's focus on combat effectiveness and morale, as well as the military's.Bluey: Jason. Thank you for sharing these with us. I'd like to change the topic. You made the decision to speak out about your love for America and your patriotism when you left the military. You set out to create an apparel company that would produce clothing featuring those messages. Please tell us about your experience and the reasons you felt it was important to use your freedom of speech to make those steps.Beardsley: I appreciate your question. I've been overseas, and we have fought, and I know that when we were at the forefront of policy, we did everything we could to secure freedoms for people abroad. But then, we return home and find that our liberties and freedoms are being eroded. Our memory is a key factor in that.How we look at our heroes, what we consider the greatness of America are the things that make us great. When that gets challenged or erodes, it is a loss in morale for America.My intention was to show that if this is missing, and people are unable to see our heroes with anything but disdainful eyes, then we must start to portray the true reasons they were great, and why the legacies America have meaning beyond systemic racism. There's more.We want to tell these stories. The marketplace was my choice, as it is another form of war and brutal. It was a wonderful experience. People loved the product. It was amazing.Bluey: It's especially true at a moment when so many Americans would rather that hot-button social problems that corporations seem to be weighing into be dominating all aspects their lives.Beardsley:Bluey: They want to return to the core values they love about America.Beardsley: They didn't care that I was serving in these various places. You could serve black, Hispanics, Hispanics, Jews, and all other types of people. In the early 1990s, I had openly homosexual service members. It wasn't legal. They were talented and hardworking. As long as this was true, it didn't matter.The one question I never thought of in a firefight was: Are there enough black men down behind me or enough Puerto Ricans? Talented servicemen are needed who respect and honor this country's heritage.Bluey: This interview was done right around Independence Day.Beardsley: Yes.Bluey: It's a special time in the year for my family, and I love teaching my children about America and its history. What does this day mean to your family?Beardsley: Thank you so much. As we are now, the story of how we got there is important. It's not easy. It takes hard work, constant energy, and application. It was possible because we had the right people to do it. The real question is: Will we keep doing it every year?We restore the fundamental principles of independence that allow all people to live equally and fairly. We never claimed to be perfect. We said that we desired a better union. That is why independence is so important.Bluey: Well said. Bluey: Thank you.Beardsley: Yes.Bluey: Last question: Any viewers or listeners out there wondering how to get involved in the Association of the United States Navy?Beardsley: Please first, visit our website, ausn.org. Look at what we are writing about. We will try to explain the policy side. Then, we want you to be engaged. The military leadership will do what they like if you aren't engaged. They will listen if they hear from them, senators and congressmen.Visit ausn.org. Join now and become a member. We want you to join, whether you are a military family member or just a person who loves this country.Bluey: Jason Beardsley is the executive director of the Association of the United States Navy. We are grateful for your participation on The Daily Signal.Beardsley: I bet. Thank you.
