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The Australian Defense Force has been criticized for its latest attempt to wake up after retraining military dog handlers to limit “cultural sensitivity risks” when confronting enemies or terrorists.
The order from ADF chief Angus Campbell follows a ban on the term “unmanned” when referring to drones to make the language of the nation’s defense forces more politically correct.
And before that, the Australian War Memorial was criticized for using “gender-neutral” pronouns to honor fallen soldiers, who must now be referred to as “they” rather than “he” or “she.” “.
The ADF Military Working Dogs (MWD) change orders that the highly trained canines should only be used in “reasonable circumstances” and not, for example, as a way to obtain information from a prisoner, or be used to threaten them.
“Handlers are expected to ensure that the use of ADF military working dogs is reasonable and necessary in the circumstances,” according to the new policy.
The Australian Defense Force has been accused of becoming even more woke after new instructions given to military dog handlers to limit “cultural sensitivity risks” when interacting with terrorists and other foreign fighters. Pictured are ADF dog handlers and one of their dogs.
“Those managing or employing ADF MWD teams are expected to be aware of any cultural sensitivity in relation to the use of ADF MWD and, where circumstances permit, take active steps to minimize the cultural sensitivity risks associated with such use.”
In many Islamic societies, dogs are considered dirty and offensive, which can create difficulties as MWDs have been widely used in the Middle East to help find weapons and explosives or to patrol foreign military bases in Australia.
SAS Association president Martin Hamilton-Smith told the Daily Telegraph that “second-order issues like dog culture” is another example of a woke culture in the ADF.
“I think the Australian people would appreciate the leadership and the ADF returning to capacity rather than second-order issues,” he said.
In November, a drone, previously known as an “unmanned aerial vehicle” (UAV) or “unmanned aerial system” (UAS), was renamed “unmanned,” while other changes under consideration included replacing “man-hours” ” for “staff hours.” and ‘he/she’ with ‘they’.
Some Defense members expressed concern that changing duty hours to staff hours would cause confusion as the term “staff” has a different meaning within the ADF.
The “gender neutral project” appears to follow former Defense Minister Peter Dutton’s directive in May 2021 that the Department of Defense stop promoting a “woke agenda”.
His order came after defense personnel wore rainbow clothing and held a morning tea to mark the “international day against homophobia, biphobia, intersexphobia and transphobia.”
ADF military working dogs change orders that the highly trained canines should only be used in “reasonable circumstances” and not, for example, as a way to obtain information from a prisoner, or be used to threaten them.
Dutton said he was against discrimination but that staff should focus on their work, especially during a period when the Covid pandemic was in full swing and tensions with China were rising.
When Labor was voted in in 2022, the new defense minister, Richard Marles, overturned the ban.
“We recognize that a diverse workforce supported by an inclusive culture is essential to Defense capability and effectiveness,” said a memo announcing the removal of the ban sent by Defense Secretary Greg Moriarty and Chief General Angus Campbell.
In a closed-door meeting late last year, Marles allegedly laid out the law on changes needed in the ADF to more than two dozen military chiefs and bureaucrats, including Moriarty and Campbell.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.