Yesterday, in a public post to his must-read X account (@RobManess) our friend Rob Maness, a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, posted “I would like to address some things that the Washington Post published about me on Aug 30, 2026.” Today, we publish Col. Maness’s comments rebutting the Washington Post’s calumnious article in their entirety.
Wrote Col. Maness:
On February 12, 2026, I published an article on X titled “It's Time to Purge the Poison from All Professional Military Education” The article recommended the Department conduct a comprehensive audit of every course, syllabus, and faculty position at the Naval War College, Air War College, Army War College, and all other DoW senior service colleges and argued that any curriculum that prioritizes social engineering over warfighting should be eliminated. The piece also advocated for the immediate replacement of any faculty member—especially tenured civilians—who cannot demonstrate a primary commitment to producing lethal, mission-focused leaders.
As a result of the article, I was invited by the Department of War to serve on a special task force studying those same senior service colleges.
I am a retired commissioned officer and my oath never expires. When my nation called, I answered, and accepted an offer to be on the task force in a short-term appointment studying the senior service colleges. Like my colleagues, I am a patriot and fully support the necessary efforts of the War Department with respect to reforming the senior service colleges, and I felt that answering this call was my duty and the fulfillment of my oath. As a team, we determined we would set aside our media personas and conduct our task force duties as the professional commissioned officers and senior commanders we are. We successfully did that, and our report is in the hands of the Secretary. I will not comment on the findings until he and his team release it.
My service with the Department of War is exclusively limited to participation in the SSC task force. At no time have I ever received any compensation of any kind from any government source of any kind for anything I write or have ever written on X or in any magazine or other source. The same is true for my media appearances in broadcast, cable, and digital media outlets. There are disclaimers on my websites and have been for over a decade since I am a retired officer. Those who claim otherwise defame me.
The Washington Post article published about me attempts to establish a context with its subtitle that is completely fabricated, categorically false, and defames me. The article also publishes illegally obtained personally identifiable information from government data sources about me.
I patriotically and unashamedly support the efforts of President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and the Department of War to ensure we are producing senior officers who can win our nation’s wars because it’s the most impactful thing to do for America’s future.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Rob Maness is a retired Colonel of the United States Air Force. A 32-Year USAF Combat Vet, enlisted EOD; B-1 Sq Cdr; Wing Cdr; Nuke Ops; 9/11 Pentagon Survivor; former US Senate candidate and host of the Rob Maness Show at https://www.robmaness.com/category/the-rob-maness-show/
