Production began last week on “Against All Enemies,” a documentary about former Space Force Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, who faced retaliation for exposing claims of “institutional racism” in the military.
In 2021, the Space Force relieved Lohmeier of command of the 11th Space Warning Squadron in Colorado in retaliation for his comments. He said he was compelled to speak up after hearing concerns from those serving under his command.
He said that those serving in his command from “diverse backgrounds, racially and certainly probably politically, religiously, economically” came to him expressing concerns.
“They were concerned about the training we were having that talked to them about [the] falseness of the American idea, that the country wasn’t really what it purported to be,” Lohmeier told The Daily Signal in an interview Monday.
The Heritage Foundation provided seed money for a forthcoming documentary about Lohmeier. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
The documentary is based on his book, “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military,” released in May 2021.
“When they were being exposed to these alternative narratives, [such as the idea] the country was rooted in white supremacy, that was off-putting to them, regardless of their race, regardless of their political upbringing, regardless of what motivated them to join the service,” he added. “They would sit down with me and say, I’m a black male or I’m a black female and I’m offended by what I’m hearing. Or I’m a white male and I’m offended by what I’m hearing, or I’m an Asian male and offended by what I’m hearing.”
He said race focus “toyed with the psyche” of servicemembers, leading them to doubt one another. Further, he said that critical race theory is rooted in Marxism, which is dangerous for the military.
“Marxism as an ideology is intended to divide and breed sufficient hostility for the other, which is sufficient enough to present a violent impulse,” he said. “So I thought that’s worth speaking up about. We need to push back on this because I know the outcome is something that is totally unacceptable for military culture that needs to be unified.”
The production company Root Cause began filming last week, and is expected to wrap up in the first quarter of 2024. The company is aiming for a mid-to-late 2024 release.
Production began in Lohmeier’s hometown of Tucson, Arizona, with on-camera interviews featuring people who knew him early in life. He played basketball at Sahuaro High School, joining a team that won the state championship. From there, the Air Force Academy recruited him to play basketball.
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, also makes an appearances in the documentary.
“We need new leadership in the White House, we need new political appointees in the Pentagon that will have our military exclusively focused on lethality, readiness, being the best of the best, and infusing in our service members that it’s about standards, not race, religion, socio-economic background, you leave all that stuff at the door,” Waltz told The Daily Signal in an interview.
“Congress is stepping in. We are banning CRT. We are defunding a lot of this DEI training,” Waltz continued, referring to critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion training. “I am all for equal opportunity. I want every American to have the opportunity to serve and to hit those standards. But you can’t start artificially turning the dials on different percentages of race, religion. The Pentagon has yet to show me data that a more diverse submarine crew—or a less diverse submarine crew—is more or less ready.”
The documentary will also feature interviews filmed at The Heritage Foundation, featuring Heritage staffers Robert Greenway, director of the Center for National Defense, and Michael Gonzalez, senior fellow for international engagement.
In a statement to The Daily Signal before the interview, Lohmeier said:
I’m incredibly grateful to be working with The Heritage Foundation on this timely project revealing the troubling trends that have been spreading throughout military communities. It is with a strong sense of duty and commitment to preserving and defending what is most special about our armed forces that I am working to help tell this story and use my own career as a way to illustrate what is at stake in our country.
Alongside a group of talented filmmakers, I am honored to share with The Heritage Foundation in the mission that they fight for on a daily basis—that neither America’s exceptionalism nor our future is guaranteed, and each must be defended by both reclaiming our first principles while combating the insidious ideas of today in their more modern expressions. I could not ask for better partners on this journey and I am sure our military communities will be proud of the work we accomplish with this film.
This article has been corrected to reflect the production company’s correct name. This article has also been updated to remove the name of a congressman who has not yet been interviewed for the documentary.
AUTHOR
Fred Lucas is chief news correspondent and manager of the Investigative Reporting Project for The Daily Signal. He is the author of “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections.” Send an email to Fred. Fred on X:
EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.
ABOUT AGAINST ALL ENEMIES
THE STAKES
After nearly twenty years of distinguished service in the United States Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Lohmeier found himself with a difficult choice to make.
The Armed Forces that he loved and had dedicated his life to had a problem.
Progressive ideology was infiltrating the one workplace in America that no one would have suspected. Cultural Marxism, in the guise of such insidious curriculum as CRT training,
LGBTQ+ activism, and the purposeful subversion of America’s proud and noble history was being foisted upon servicemen and women at all levels of the military. Though Lohmeier was considered a “fast burner,” one who was quickly promoted through the officer ranks past his peers, he put his career on the line to expose the toxic ideology that was being purposely spread throughout the Armed Forces.
After his attempts to use his chain of command failed, and after his written Space Force Inspector General complaint was dismissed without any investigation, Lohmeier wrote a book about what he was seeing and hearing. He spoke up. He did so with respect, dignity and courage.
And he paid a heavy price.
In this documentary – AGAINST ALL ENEMIES – we will examine the toxic ideology that Matt exposed, his life before “blowing the whistle,” and follow him, his family and friends on his rescue mission to Washington, D.C. to expose this dangerous dogma and its infiltration in our nation’s most beloved and important civil institution.
THE STORY
Our film opens in present day, on a snowy mountain near Fairchild Air Force base in Spokane, WA, where Lt Col Matthew Lohmeier successfully completed SERE School training many years ago. It was here, on a frigid Thanksgiving weekend, that Matt first felt the full weight of what it was going to mean to sacrifice for a cause bigger than himself.
After a moment of reflection, our hero’s journey begins as we follow Matthew on his investigative/reflective trek across the country to tell his story in the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. Along the trail, we will visit consequential and relevant landmarks to both Matt personally, and the Nation collectively. We will visit sites and cities that connect to our country’s founding, its principles and History, as Matt relives the moments and instances that lead to his decision to blow the whistle on Marxist Indoctrination in the military. We’ll examine and explain the Marxist ideology, its beginnings and the threat it poses to our nation and military.
This film will answer the question why this country IS exceptional and precisely why Marxist indoctrination is a danger to the future of the Republic. How can our military protect the Constitution they took an oath to defend while simultaneously being taught to hate it?
