Air Force Commander Comments On Base

Colonel Lisa Mabbutt, the commander of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), has just earned herself a spot on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s list of Woke Military Officers We Don’t Need. And based on her recent performance in front of the Alaska Legislature, it’s not hard to see why.

Mabbutt began her remarks before the House Military and Veterans’ Affairs Special Committee with what can only be described as a textbook example of virtue-signaling nonsense: a “land acknowledgment” claiming that JBER occupies land belonging to the Dena’ina tribe.

One small issue—she’s wrong.

JBER, one of the most strategically important military installations in the world, does not sit on Native land. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) definitively settled the issue of Native land ownership in the state decades ago. JBER’s 64,213 acres are federal land, not Native land, and no amount of woke posturing changes that.

The fact that Mabbutt, speaking on behalf of the U.S. government, opened her testimony with this factually incorrect statement is bad enough. But she didn’t stop there.

Mabbutt then pivoted to advocating for increased school funding—while in uniform. That’s where things go from “misguided” to “possibly illegal.” The Hatch Act prohibits federal officials from using their positions to influence legislation, and yet here she was, doing exactly that. No ambiguity. No gray area. She used her command role to lobby the Legislature on a civilian funding issue.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, Mabbutt also downplayed the significance of a growing homeless encampment on JBER land.

That’s right—she acknowledged that parts of the base, which hosts the highly classified F-22 Raptor fighter squadron, are being occupied by vagrants. She even claimed that the encampments weren’t a security risk.

Let’s take a step back here.

JBER is a military installation. It exists to house and support U.S. service members, not provide shelter for squatters. And this isn’t just any base—it’s a critical hub for U.S. air defense, home to some of the most advanced warplanes in existence. The idea that a homeless encampment—filled with individuals who may be struggling with substance abuse, mental illness, or worse—poses no security risk is beyond absurd.

Mabbutt’s tenure at JBER is shaping up to be a case study in everything wrong with the modern woke military mindset. Instead of focusing on operational readiness, force projection, and base security, she’s busy making false land acknowledgments, lobbying for civilian school funding, and allowing trespassers to remain on military land.

This isn’t leadership. It’s negligence.