The Navy has turned to drag queens to boost their recruitment efforts.
Facing what a recruiter calls “the most challenging recruiting environment it has faced since the start of the all-volunteer force,” last year the Navy launched a new “Digital Ambassador” program in order to reach new potential service members.
According to the Navy, the ambassador program is an effort “to attract the most talented and diverse workforce” for the military branch.
But one of the five ambassadors in particular drew criticism: Joshua Kelley, a non-binary sailor who’s also a drag queen that goes by the name “Harpy Daniels” and shares videos of the experience on Instagram and TikTok.
@harpydaniels The Navy Has a Diverse group of people, including Non-Binary, Trans and Queer people! No Haters can stop us. #fyp #lgbtq #miltok #nonbinary #dragqueen ♬ original sound – star || god0fhammers
In a November 2022 Instagram post, Kelley thanked the Navy for the opportunity and expressed gratitude for being able to “share my drag experience on my off time with my fellow sailors.”
And while most of the comments on Kelley’s posts have been supportive, one high-profile former Navy SEAL has spoken out against the drag queen recruitment campaign.
Robert O’Neill served 17 years in the Navy, including as a member of SEAL Team Six, where he famously participated in Operation Neptune Spear, the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. O’Neill has spoken out many times about being one of the men to kill the world’s most wanted man back in 2011:
“In the bedroom was Osama Bin Laden, a matter of feet in front of me.
And he had his hands on his wife’s shoulders. He was not surrendering. He was sort of moving, and just based on the level of threat of him not surrendering and the likelihood of him having a vest, I engaged him.
I shot him twice in the head. He fell in the floor. I shot him one more time and I killed him.”
But now he’s speaking out against the Navy for their use of drag queens in new recruitment efforts.
In a Twitter post, O’Neill had some harsh words for the new campaign:
“Alright. The U.S. Navy is now using an enlisted sailor Drag Queen as a recruiter. I’m done. China is going to destroy us. YOU GOT THIS NAVY. I can’t believe I fought for this bullshit.”
Many on Twitter agreed with O’Neill, expressing concern over our military capabilities and comparing the decision to Bud Light’s controversial marketing campaign featuring transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney:
I’m right there with you. It’s unconscionable what they’ve done to the military. They can all kiss my ass and permanently-damaged lungs.
— @Matthew Betley (@MatthewBetley) May 4, 2023
The Navy will reap what it’s sown. Unfortunately, the price will be heavy.
— Mike Gonyea (@MD06568890) May 3, 2023
This is beyond disturbing. I’m a former military officer and I just can’t believe what our brass is doing.
— Dr. Rich Palazzolo (@dr_palazzolo) May 3, 2023
As a Navy veteran, I am ashamed on behalf of the US Navy. I hope that goes over as well as Bud Light did.
— Celtic Fiddler (@celtfiddler) May 3, 2023
Recruitment is not going to improve because of this policy. So the policy will change. Look what happened to BUD LIGHT.
— Georgeo (@MrGeorgeo) May 4, 2023
But some called O’Neill’s reaction “transphobic” and applauded the Navy for their efforts to diversify their recruitment efforts.
Ok and???? How is this going to destroy us? What do you think is going to happen? They break out in a course of “It’s raining men” on the enemy lines? If you’re transphobic or homophobic just say that.
— 🌈 OhWowItsJay 🌈 (@ReceiptsKeeper_) May 3, 2023
Authentic snowflakes are the type who get outraged by something like this. Go Navy
— Kevin Blue Check Yourself 🎶 (@KevinSixx13) May 3, 2023
Personally, as long as they can do their assigned job properly and maintain operational security I have a hard time being bothered to care how anyone dresses in their personal life.
— @TheRealDramaLlama (@AlpacalipsNow) May 3, 2023
“Nothing Like Seeing A Grown Terrorist Tough Guy Sh*t His Pants”
12 years ago this week may have been the last time this country was truly united.
It was one of those moments where if you’re old enough, you’ll always remember where you were.
I remember sitting at my favorite bar (yeah, so what it was a Sunday) with a friend, when we saw the announcement come on the TV that then-President Barack Obama would be holding a late-night news conference.
Obviously we knew something big was going on, so we immediately turn to Twitter, where rumor began to spread that the United States had killed Osama Bin Laden.
And as we finally got confirmation, the entire bar began celebrating. There were shots, high-fives, and Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” played more than once on the TouchTunes that night.
It was an incredible moment in our nation’s history, with celebrations across the country pouring out into the streets as the world’s most wanted man was finally brought to justice nearly 10 years after the horrific attacks of 9/11.
And as the days and weeks passed, we finally learned more about the operation – and the heroes – that took down Osama Bin Laden.
The Navy SEAL who took out the terrorist was revealed to be Rob O’Neill, a 15-year veteran and member of the highly-specialized SEAL Team Six.
Over the years, O’Neill has given several accounts of the night he killed Bin Laden:
“In the bedroom was Osama Bin Laden, a matter of feet in front of me.
And he had his hands on his wife’s shoulders. He was not surrendering. He was sort of moving, and just based on the level of threat of him not surrendering and the likelihood of him having a vest, I engaged him.
I shot him twice in the head. He fell in the floor. I shot him one more time and I killed him.”
And in an interview last year, O’Neill describes how it feels to wake up a terrorist in the middle of the night in a war zone:
“That was actually the most fun of war for me, was walking up on a terrorist and putting a finger on his lips and waking him up to his worst nightmare.
There’s nothing like seeing a grown terrorist tough guy shit his pants. It’s amazing.”
God bless the badass men and women of our military.
