In a series of executive orders signed Monday evening, President Donald Trump mandated the military abandon its embrace of neo-Marxist ideology and prioritize the lethality and standards needed to win wars.
“The United States military has a clear mission: to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force,” Trump wrote. “Success in this existential mission requires a singular focus on developing the requisite warrior ethos, and the pursuit of military excellence cannot be diluted to accommodate political agendas or other ideologies harmful to unit cohesion.”
Under the Biden administration, warfighting took a back seat to the advancement of so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) ideology, which military specialists and veterans have argued hampers the force’s overall readiness.
Trump’s orders seek to reverse this dynamic by placing meritocracy at the forefront of the Pentagon’s decision-making.
One directive requires “every element of the Armed Forces [to] operate free from any preference based on race or sex” and the total military-wide elimination of DEI offices, programs, initiatives, and elements within the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security “with regard to the [U.S. Coast Guard].” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth must also initiate an internal review that is to be delivered to him within 90 days that “documents actions taken in pursuit of DEI initiatives, including all instances of race and sex discrimination and activities designed to promote a race- or sex-based preferences system.”
The edict also prohibits U.S. military academies and schools from teaching “divisive” and “radical” theories such as critical race theory and gender ideology. The Defense Department and military are further barred from hiring “employees, contractors, or consultants to teach [such] theories.”
“The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall carefully review the leadership, curriculum, and instructors of the United States Service Academies and other defense academic institutions associated with their respective Departments to ensure alignment with this order,” the directive reads. “In addition, these institutions shall be required to teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history.”
Another order signed by Trump seeks to restore standards previously discarded by Biden regarding limitations on trans-identifying service members in the military. Much like with assessments of DEI use, military specialists have long highlighted the negative impact authorizing Americans who identify as “transgender” to serve has on military readiness.
Trump’s directive effectively requires Hegseth to revise the military’s policy on gender dysphoric individuals serving within 60 days the order’s implementation. It also directs the defense secretary to “promptly issue directives for DoD to end invented and identification-based pronoun usage …” and specifies that, “[a]bsent extraordinary operational necessity,” service members are prohibited from “us[ing] or shar[ing] sleeping, changing, or bathing facilities designated” for the opposite sex.
The president signed two additional orders Monday night, one of which directs the Pentagon to develop an “Iron Dome” missile defense system, similar to that used by Israel to protect its citizens from enemy attacks.
The other authorizes the reinstatement of service members who were kicked out or left the military due to the Biden DOD’s Covid shot mandate. Those dismissed from the force as a result of the unscientific mandate are permitted to “revert to their former rank and receive full back pay, benefits, bonus payments, or compensation.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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