Recent reports have suggested that an Army general is under fire for defending young females in the military. They suggest that Army Major General Pat Donahoe was under investigation for merely defending a young female soldier from attacks on Twitter and Fox News host Tucker Carlson. However, these reports have skewed the truth in an attempt to pressure the Army not to punish and remove one of his stars as he retires in disgrace.
The Washington Post published an op-ed from Max Boot this last Wednesday which stated “Donahoe’s third offense, in the eyes of the inspector general, was to offer encouragement to a junior female officer under his command who had been subject to vile, misogynistic attacks on Twitter.” He went on to state, “One user even wrote, after a picture of her was posted, that she needed to “get raped.” Donahoe came to her defense on Twitter, writing that this officer “looks like a tanker” — a compliment in Army-speak. He then had a brief, innocuous exchange with her on Twitter for all to see.” The problem with this summary is that it’s entirely fabricated.
Boot insinuated in his article that Donahoe was merely coming to the defense of a female soldier who was being attacked online, but if this was the case, then why was the soldier, LT Gillian Longoria, engaging in a Twitter conversation with Donahoe a whole nine months earlier discussing doomsday prepping and her bartending skills?
If we go back to the exchange in question, Boot stated that, “he then had a brief, innocuous exchange with her on Twitter for all to see.” I’m not sure what your definition of innocuous is, but saying “here in the TV room with the family virtually co-authoring my battle analysis with gilltheamazon” at 1:53 AM the following morning, or correcting her on the spelling of his name at 2:10 AM doesn’t meet my definition of the word.
But maybe it’s because after he tucked her in for the evening, he was still thinking about her.
Longoria was a student at Fort Benning’s BOLC (Basic Officer Leaders Course) and was getting help with her homework from Donahoe, the Commanding General of Fort Benning. There was no similar help for other students. What’s more troubling about this exchange is that the lieutenant found it inappropriate and went back to clean up her end of it.
With all of this “innocuous” conversation taking place, you’d think it would end after the hero general came to her defense, but he had already been engaging with her on twitter for over nine months, and he wasn’t done.
Remember, folks, Major General Donahoe is a hero, and he was simply speaking out on behalf of a lieutenant who was nothing more than the victim of misogyny and right wing MAGA extremists. We know because Max told us! Also, Task & Purpose, Stars and Stripes, Daily Mail, and several others.
What if Donahoe’s actions were just a noble and righteous undertaking (a year before and a year after the incident), and the Army is just a bunch of meanies who are viciously attacking this poor General Officer for engaging in a conversation here or there? The problem with that is Donahoe was ruthless with his own cadre on Fort Benning as the Commanding General, and there were numerous careers ended by his hand for this exact same thing. Donahoe had rules for others, yet he was notorious for carrying on in the public Twittersphere with inappropriate conversations.
Here is another exchange he had with a young, female lieutenant in his command.
Both Army Regulation and TRADOC Regulations are very clear on the matter.
The regulations are so clear, in fact, that they specifically state the following as expressly prohibited: “Engaging in a personal telephone conversation with a student unrelated to the training mission or an authorized activity and “friending” or request to be a “friend” with a student through social media or via a social media networking website.”
Boot also stated that “It all began in March 2021 when Fox “News” host Tucker Carlson expressed outrage over Air Force plans to develop a maternity flight suit. “It’s a mockery of the U.S. military,” huffed Carlson at the time, arguing that while “China’s military becomes more masculine,” ours becomes “more feminine.” In reply, Donahoe posted on Twitter a video of himself conducting a reenlistment ceremony for a female soldier. “Just a reminder,” he wrote, “that @TuckerCarlson couldn’t be more wrong.” He went on to state “Donahoe’s retort earned the ire of the MAGA right.”
If this incident caused enough issue to land Donahoe in hot water with the US Army, then why did so many other leaders, to include the Sergeant Major of the Army, not get punished?
All of this information may seem revelatory to some, but it certainly isn’t to the press corps who is furiously trying to defend Donahoe by rewriting what took place. Here’s a reply to a Tweet from Meghann Myers, the Pentagon bureau chief at Military times. The Army Times, an affiliate of theirs, ran an article on September 19 which also failed to cover the real reasons for Donahoe’s investigation, yet it’s apparent they knew why he was actually under investigation.
It’s almost as if the real reasons for Donahoe’s investigation were…covered up by his friends in the media! I’m shocked! Are you saying that it’s a completely ludicrous and absurd idea to attribute a Major General not being allowed to retire, while potentially losing a star, to the idea that he’s actually a really swell guy and was just trying to help a little ol’ soldier who was being viciously attacked online? Well if that’s the case, then I think we might need to question what all of those publications say from here on out. It’s almost like they have an agenda, and those authors from the Washington Post, Task & Purpose, Stars and Stripes and Army Times are actually friends with Donahoe (surprise, they are).
