Secretary Pete Hegseth sends a memo to West Point, The Naval Academy and The Airforce Academy instructing them that ALL FUTURE ADMISSIONS will be “exclusively on merit.”
In the memo Secretary Hegseth shuts down DEI hiring saying,
“Race, ethnicity, or sex” can NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED.
“Our officers will be the best of the best—full stop”
“The Department owes it to our nation, our Service Members, and our young Americans applying to the MSAs to ensure admissions to these prestigious institutions are based exclusively on merit”
He added that this would ensure that only the “most qualified candidates” would be admitted.
“Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces”
He said the secretaries of the military departments would have 30 days to certify that there will be no consideration of race, ethnicity or sex in applications and that they will be based on merit only.
“The Department must remain steadfast in its pursuit of excellence and never compromise the high standards at our MSAs,” he concluded. “A strong officer corps is essential to ensuring the United States military remains the most lethal the world has ever known.”
