Rep. Duncan Hunter (R., Calif.), a former Marine officer, said Monday that the secretary of the Navy’s progressive policies will get Marines killed.
Hunter, who has been intensely critical of Navy Secretary Ray Mabus for dismissing a Marine Corps study that found women perform worse than men in combat operations, accused the him of "social meddling" in an interview with the Marine Corps Times.
Hunter, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, specifically addressed Mabus’ "stupid" order to remove the word "man" from Marine Corps’ position titles as well as his memo giving the Marine commandant 15 days to develop a plan to make the service’s entry-level boot camp and Officer Candidate School co-ed.
"None of the secretary of the Navy’s policies help us close with and destroy the enemy with fire and close combat. Mabus’ social meddling puts every Marine in harm’s way at greater risk," Hunter said.
The congressman also told Politico Friday that Mabus represents "a greater threat to the Marine Corps than ISIS."
Last September, Hunter demanded Mabus resign after he dismissed the in-depth study and promised to push to open up all combat roles in the Marine Corps to women.
"According to the Marine Corps’ own study on gender integration in ground combat units, Mabus’ social meddling will get Marines killed," Hunter said Monday.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter last month ordered all roles open to female service members, despite objections from Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Marine Corps commandant. Hunter charged that the Obama administration is not thinking through its decisions and the subsequent effects on the military.
"These are long lasting," the GOP congressman told Politico. "These changes that they’re making are not thought out, they’re not researched, they’ve not been debated. The American public has no idea what’s going on … It’s going to get people killed."
Hunter also said that he is contemplating legislation to address the role of women in combat but did not offer details.
Former Marines appear to share Hunter’s negative opinion of Mabus. Countless comments from retired service members on the Navy secretary’s Facebook page have criticized him for pushing politically correct policies onto the military, the Free Beacon previously reported.