{"id":70435,"date":"2021-03-11T18:59:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T18:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/11\/senior-leaders-dunk-on-tucker-carlsons-misogynistic-comments-about-maternity-flight-suits\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:55:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:55:46","slug":"senior-leaders-dunk-on-tucker-carlsons-misogynistic-comments-about-maternity-flight-suits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/03\/11\/senior-leaders-dunk-on-tucker-carlsons-misogynistic-comments-about-maternity-flight-suits\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior leaders dunk on Tucker Carlson\u2019s misogynistic comments about maternity flight suits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It all started because the Air Force was looking for a few women to wear test its new maternity flight suit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson seized the moment on his Tuesday show to drop some hot takes about how catering to pregnant women<\/a> is \u201cfeminizing\u201d the military and allowing China to surpass the U.S. in its dominance of national defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo we\u2019ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits,\u201d Carlson said, also referring to recently updated Army and Air Force hair regulations<\/a>. \u201cPregnant women are going to fight our wars. It\u2019s a mockery of the U.S. military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clip made its way around social media like wildfire on Wednesday, catching the attention of many current and former female service members, as well as the men who have served alongside them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then, the story took on a different tone, spurred by challenges from some of these rank-and-file troops \u2015 senior leadership got involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a handful of current, senior-ranking military officials who have embraced Twitter as a direct line to their troops, as well as a place to wade into the discussions that are \u2015 or could be \u2015 driving policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen senior military leaders use social media in a completely new way within the past year,\u201d Martina Chesonis, spokeswoman for the Service Women\u2019s Action Network, told Military Times on Thursday. \u201cSeeing senior military leaders address Tucker Carlson\u2019s comments on pregnancy in the military so quickly and so directly is really validating, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past year, the military has put a renewed focus on diversity and inclusion, standing up task forces and putting out media content about their commitment to the effort. Carlson\u2019s comments represent one of the first times they\u2019ve had the opportunity to put their money where their mouths are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo watch our senior military leaders not only defend the institutional changes that they\u2019re making, but to boldly proclaim that we\u2019re moving in the right direction \u2015 it really gives hope that what we\u2019re seeing is a true culture change,\u201d Chesonis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the top-down approach is the first and easiest step in making that kind of culture change, seeing four-star generals use their platforms to take on someone with Carlson\u2019s audience could inspire the rank-and-file to do the hard work of calling out sexism or bigotry at their individual levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, Chenosis said, social media is a quick and organic way to set the tone for leaders on down the chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat they\u2019re doing by putting this on social media, where all of the military is \u2015 where everyone is now, really \u2015 it\u2019s giving an easy sound bite that all of our commanders can use,\u201d she said, rather than the traditional force-wide memos or heavily vetted public affairs releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, she added, by countering his comments with photos or anecdotes of the women they\u2019ve proudly served with, they shifted the narrative to the reality of how women serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Expectant mother and Air Force Capt. Beatrice Horne with the 964th Airborne Air Control Squadron is helping the Air Force test out a new flight suit prototype that will accommodate pregnancy. (DoD)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Culture change<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While all of the services have been grappling with the ways that traditional military culture<\/a> subjugates and disenfranchises women, the Army in the past year has taken much of the public brunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last April, when then-Pfc. Vanessa Guillen<\/a> went missing from Fort Hood, Texas, a massive social media campaign rallied around her family and pushed Army Criminal Investigation Command to investigate her disappearance more aggressively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turned out that not only had Guillen been killed, allegedly by a fellow soldier, a subsequent independent investigation into her chain of command found a toxic environment that left many women serving at Fort Hood in fear for their safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The response to the report, from untold numbers of women around the military, was a resounding \u201cme, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So with all of that in the frame, senior leadership had a choice: Shy away from feeding the troll, or take a stand, using their own voices to project the reality and the values of the U.S. military, rather than letting Carlson speak for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTucker Carlson is not a spokesman for the U.S. military,\u201d Chenosis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, as one senior-enlisted Marine noted, he has no experience serving in the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. Paul Funk, the head of Army Training and Doctrine Command, and his deputy, Lt. Gen. Ted Martin, also weighed in, as the commanders in charge of the Army organization that not only makes new soldiers, but creates the tactics and philosophy that the Army uses to, as Carlson put it, \u201cwin wars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His comments made their way up to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, whose spokesman on Thursday put a fine point on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo be sure, we still have a lot of work to do to make our military more inclusive, more respectful of everyone \u2015 especially women. \u2026 But we recognize the lack of female leadership across the senior ranks. We pledge to do better, and we will,\u201d John Kirby said. \u201cWhat we absolutely won\u2019t do is take personnel advice from a talk show host, or the Chinese military. Now maybe those folks feel like they have something to prove \u2015 that\u2019s on them. We know we\u2019re the greatest military in the world today, and even for all the things we need to improve, we know exactly why that\u2019s so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Diversity and inclusion\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little back story: The maternity flight suit has been in the works for a while, as have other updates to protect women\u2019s health while serving in uniform \u2015 among them, allowing ponytails in uniform to prevent scalp damage caused by tight, heavy buns, as well as body armor<\/a> that not only covers women\u2019s torsos properly, but doesn\u2019t dig into them and cause as much injury as it\u2019s designed to prevent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important thing to note about this effort, and Carlson\u2019s reaction, is that flight suits are one of many kinds of uniforms service members wear, and they are as much about distinguishing aviators and aircrew from other troops as they are about operating aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is to say, a pregnant service member \u2015 who is not authorized to fly in combat in the first place \u2015 will wear a flight suit for all manner of daily work, including training flights required to stay proficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just such a lack of understanding of how wars are fought, how deployments are managed, how women contribute in the military,\u201d Chenosis said. \u201cAnd what\u2019s unfortunate is that he has that platform. And so for people who don\u2019t understand what is real, they can walk away from that thinking, \u2018Oh my God, we\u2019re sending our pregnant women into battle. This is ridiculous.\u2019 “<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, many women in military aviation plan their pregnancies around the regularly scheduled, non-operational jobs every service member has in the course of a career. They often opt to expand their families while working as instructors, or other non-deployable jobs, so as not to miss a deployment because of a pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would hope that, in the reaction he\u2019s seen, and hopefully in our reaction here today, he\u2019ll realize the mistake he made and express some regret about the manner in which he, essentially, demeaned the entire U.S. military, and how we defend and how we serve this country,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/LethalityJane\/status\/1369763956739301378<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/PatDonahoeArmy\/status\/1369831575916077056<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/16thSMA\/status\/1369860649292083206<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n