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About
William Gerald 'Jerry' Boykin, born April 19, 1948, is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General who served a distinguished 36-year career, including 13 years with Delta Force, which he commanded, participating in high-profile operations such as the 1980 Iran hostage rescue attempt (Operation Eagle Claw), the 1992 pursuit of Pablo Escobar in Colombia, and the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down). He retired in 2007 after serving as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence from 2002 to 2007 under President George W. Bush. An ordained Southern Baptist minister, Boykin is known for his evangelical views on national security, framing the 'global jihad movement' and global terrorism as a spiritual war against Christianity. In 2003 speeches, he described the U.S. as engaged in a battle with 'Satan' manifested in Islamist forces, claiming 'our God is bigger than their god' and that America's enemy is 'a guy named Satan' while Muslims worship an 'idol'—statements that drew widespread condemnation for anti-Muslim rhetoric, were rebuked by President George W. Bush, prompted a Pentagon investigation that found violations of minor regulations but cleared him of major wrongdoing, and resulted in his reassignment though no formal charges. Post-retirement, Boykin founded the Kingdom Warriors ministry to promote biblical manhood and Christian spiritual warfare principles. He has served as executive vice president at the Family Research Council (FRC), a conservative Christian advocacy group labeled an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, since July 2012, where he promotes views on cultural threats from Islam and the 'global jihad movement' and has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim extremist. He holds the Wheat Chair for Leadership Studies as visiting professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, lecturing on national security, faith, and ethics, though he faced a 2016 contract dispute over transgender-related comments that was resolved with a new agreement. He co-authored 'Shariah: The Threat to America' (2010) with David Yerushalmi and others, warning of Islamic law's infiltration, and authored books like 'Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom' (2008) and works on Christian leadership. Boykin has faced ongoing criticism from groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and civil rights organizations for inflammatory statements equating Islam with demonic forces, calling it a 'totalitarian way of life' that should not be protected by the First Amendment, opposing mosque constructions with claims of 'no mosques in America,' and asserting that President Barack Obama's 'identity is more with Islam than with anything else,' positioning him as a key figure in evangelical conservative networks influencing U.S. policy debates on religion and security.