A Covenant of Strength: Restoring Faith and Purpose to the American Mission

​By Chuck Smith

​Virginia Beach, VA -- Long before I ever stepped onto a parade deck as a young Marine 0311, or navigated the complex legalities of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as a Navy JAG Commander, I was a young boy being led into a small church by my grandmother’s hand.

​She didn’t just teach me the hymns; she taught me that there are principles to live by—eternal truths that guide you, fight for you, and continuously mold you. She taught me that "peace" is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice and the strength to defend the innocent.

​As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, those lessons have been and still are my North Star. They are the reason I believe that our military must return to its core mission: the defense of a nation under God.

​For too long, our Armed Forces were treated as a laboratory for philosophy and social experimentation. We watched as character and readiness were sacrificed to the altar of political correctness and the divisive ideologies of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). We have now purged these distractions because a military that prioritizes "equity" over merit is a military that has lost its way, long before battle consumes it in defeat. In the foxhole, the only "identity" that matters is grit, and a warrior’s commitment to the mission. We now are restoring a culture of excellence because excellence is a moral obligation to the character of the men and women we send into harm’s way.

​Venezuela and the ongoing operations against the Iranian regime—Operation Epic Fury— clearly demonstrate what happens when we stop apologizing for American strength, fortitude, character and power.

We are utilizing the height of American innovation—autonomous drone swarms and precision capabilities—to dismantle threats without the immediate reflex of a decade long boots on the ground occupation. We are protecting American interests with surgical efficiency.

​However, as a Marine and a man of faith, I am a realist. We do not nor cannot seek endless wars or the occupation of foreign lands. But "America First" does not mean "America Weak" or "America Sleep." And precisely for that reason, we do not take the ground option off the table. If our safety requires it, we will send our elite—not to act as social workers, but as grunts, as sailors, airmen and soldiers.

​We are living through a restoration. By removing the "woke" philosophy and bureaucracy, and refocusing on lethality, we are brandishing a force that is too fast to catch and too strong to break. But more importantly, we are building a force that reflects the character of the American people: a people who do not seek to fight, but who possess the God-given resolve to finish one.

​My grandmother used to say that "to whom much is given, much is required." America has been given the mantle of leadership to honor and protect the flame of liberty. It is our duty to keep that flame alive, burning, protected by a military that answers only to the mission and a leadership that answers only to the American people and God Almighty.

​Chuck Smith is a retired Navy JAG Commander, a former U.S. Marine, and a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Virginia.