U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn continued his crusade against critical race theory Wednesday after an associate professor at the Air Force Academy in favor of the theory called it “vital.”

The theory, Lamborn said in a Wednesday press release, shouldn’t be taught to service members because it advances Marxist thought in its attempt to show that many American institutions are fundamentally racist.

In the release, Lamborn also called teaching critical race theory in military service academies – referring to Lynne Chandler Garcia, an associate professor at the United States Air Force Academy, who said that teaching the theory was “not unpatriotic” and “vital” – a “direct violation” of the expressed intent of the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

“I am deeply concerned that an associate professor at the United States Air Force Academy has enthusiastically endorsed teaching critical race theory to the future officer corps of our Space Force and Air Force,” Lamborn wrote in a Wednesday press release. “Critical race theory is an anti-American ideology rooted in Marxism and has no place in any of our service academies.”

That intent was laid forth when Austin testified before the Armed Services Committee in June that the United States military should not be taught critical race theory, Lamborn said. In March, Lamborn co-wrote a letter to Adm. Michael Gilday expressing his concern that a Navy reading program had included books on its reading list that advanced critical race theories.

Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican, has been a staunch opponent of critical race theory, as a debate on whether it should be taught in public schools has swept the nation.

In May, Lamborn co-wrote another letter to Secretary of the Air Force John Roth protesting the firing of Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, a commander in the U.S. Space Force, following comments that the U.S. military has pushed Marxist policies.

The sponsors of that letter – 24 in all, including U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz – called critical race theory a “poisonous philosophy” that will disrupt the United States’ ability to attract patriotic talent to serve in uniform.