Army’s Top Enlisted Leader Engaged In Hours-Long Twitter Battle Over Pride Post

• The Army’s highest-ranking enlisted soldier fought back with Twitter users who criticized a unit’s pro-Pride post on Friday and Saturday, hinting that those users committed “discriminatory harassment.”
• The 82nd Airborne’s tweet recommended Army families check out a “survival guide” for “questioning” teens and another describing how parents can learn to “support” their LGBGQ+ child, from the on-base library.
• “The comment section isn’t your [Area of Operations], and voicing disagreement is not harassment,” one Twitter user said.

The Army’s top enlisted leader shot back at criticisms of a post from the 82nd Airborne celebrating LGBTQ+ members in a two-day Twitter battle, tweets show.

Twitter users, many of whom described themselves as veterans in their account bios, mocked the 82nd Airborne’s Friday morning post kick-starting the unit’s observance of Pride Month as a “disgrace” and distracting from the Army’s mission, the comments show. Sgt. Maj. Michael Grinston, the Army’s top enlisted leader responsible for morale and discipline issues in the service, condemned the criticism as harassment and shot back at tweets through Saturday morning as senior military leaders have not shied away from weighing in on American cultural controversies.

As we wrap up the observance celebration of #Juneteenth we switch gears in honoring all those who partake in #PrideMonth. Join us later this month as we come all together for the Respect, Service and Dignity as the Division MEO team hosts the Pride Month Observance Event.#AATW pic.twitter.com/6hdRoWAgWy

— All American Division (@82ndABNDiv) June 16, 2023

“The comment section is a good time to refresh ourselves with discriminatory harassment: A form of harassment that is unwelcome conduct based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity), national origin, or sexual orientation,” Grinston wrote.

The 82nd Airborne’s tweet recommended Army families check out a book called a “Survival Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Teens,” as well as another that describes how parents can learn to “support” their LGBGQ+ child, from the on-base library. The titles are “intended for ages 13 and up,” the photo stated.

Some users praised Grinston for standing up on behalf of lesbian, gay and transgender people who serve in the Army against “bigots,” while others disputed whether their words counted as harassment, tweets show.

“The comment section isn’t your [Area of Operations], and voicing disagreement is not harassment,” one Twitter user responded at 7:59 p.m. “Many veterans including this one are disgusted by the continued degeneracy of our armed forces, so prepare to copy notes you can refer to later during your retention-crisis strategy meetings.”

In response, Grinston tweeted a screenshot of an Army Times headline: “Army hits retention goal four months early, says top enlisted soldier,” referring to Grinston’s own June 10 announcement that the service succeeded in getting the desired number of soldiers and officers to stay on for 2023.

Grinston said the Army set a goal of retaining 55,000 soldiers, higher than the year prior, amid a planned decrease of about 12,000 to the number of total Army personnel, according to Army Times. The deficit is a function of recruiting woes; once soldiers enlist or become officers, they want to stay, Grinston explained.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Investigative reporter and Pentagon correspondent.

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