The Great Military Feminization

If you are someone who is at all interested in modern conservative thought, by now you are probably familiar with Helen Andrews’ astonishingly powerful article in the October 16, 2026, edition of Compact Magazine entitled “The Great Feminization.” (She also provided an equally powerful speech on the same subject at this year’s National Conservatism conference; the link is here.) I strongly recommend you take the time to read her article and listen to her talk, but in a nutshell, she suggests that what most of us view as the takeover of “woke” in Western society is in fact a rise to power of traditionally feminine methods of decision-making, thinking, and leadership. However, as powerful and thought-provoking as her analyses are, she left out one tremendously important segment of American society: the United States military. As a retired U.S. Army colonel, I believe I have some important thoughts to add to Andrews’ analysis.

I think in this context that it is important that I first establish my bona fides, as I do not share Andrews’ luxury of being a woman critiquing female ways of thinking.

My Army career was in logistics, which means from my very first moment as a second lieutenant until I retired as a colonel, I served in units with women. So many of the women I served with were incredibly competent, brave, and able to perform with excellence under enemy fire. Even more, there are plenty of brave women buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Despite my positive experiences serving with, leading, and being led by female soldiers, I have long decried what I consider a non-combat-effective trend, or what I call the “Mommyfication” of the U.S. military.

Just like Andrews properly identified that men and women tend to have different approaches to problem solving, I believe it is fair to say that men and women tend to have fundamentally different approaches to military leadership.