Hegseth orders military academies to disregard ‘race, ethnicity, or sex’ in admissions

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues his work in reversing the Biden regime’s discriminatory policies in the armed services and has now ordered America’s military academies to only consider merit in admissions.

In a Friday memo, the Pentagon chief directed the schools to halt factoring in “race, ethnicity, or sex” when determining who receives admission, another blow to the DEI cancer in the federal government that was allowed to metastasize under his predecessor Lloyd Austin, disgraced ex-President Joe Biden’s “woke” SECDEF.

“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,” Hegseth wrote in the memo, which he shared on X.

MEMO to: @WestPoint_USMA @NavalAcademy & @af_academy

ALL FUTURE ADMISSIONS will be “exclusively on merit.”

“Race, ethnicity, or sex” can NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED.

Our officers will be the best of the best—full stop. pic.twitter.com/XAE0QzxLHP

— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) May 9, 2025

“This ensures only the most qualified candidates are admitted, trained, and ultimately commissioned to lead the finest fighting force in history,” he added.

“Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces,” Hegseth said.

“Going forward, MSAs shall rank-order candidates by merit-based scores,” the memo reads, explaining that the expectation will be that only the “highest ranking” candidates will be appointed.

“The Department must remain steadfast in its pursuit of excellence and never compromise the high standards at our MSAs,” Hegseth added. “A strong officer corps is essential to ensuring the United States military remains the most lethal the world has ever known.”

It was the second major announcement this week from the Defense Secretary who has been the focus of the ongoing “Signalgate” smear campaign that’s been pushed by Democrats and their stooges in the media with the obvious objective of forcing him out at the Pentagon and putting it back under the control of someone more like Austin or another longtime insider.

On Thursday, Hegseth announced that the Defense Department would begin the process of booting out transgenders after the Supreme Court cleared the way for President Trump’s executive order after it had been temporarily blocked by a lower court judge.

After a SCOTUS victory for @POTUS, TRANS is out at the DOD. pic.twitter.com/4WkEhSS3dL

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) May 8, 2025

“Two days at the Supreme Court, our policy was upheld and so we’re going to continue to advance that policy here at the Defense Department,” he said. “So, in accordance with the policy now reinstated, service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria may elect to separate voluntarily.”

The gender dysphoria-afflicted service members will have until June 6 to leave voluntarily, just in time for Pride Month.

“Service by individuals with a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibiting symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria is not in the best interest of the Military Services and is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security,” Hegseth said in a Thursday memo on the 30 day opportunity for the transgender individuals to depart the service.

“In accordance with policy now reinstated, Service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria may elect to separate voluntarily; such Service members may also be eligible for voluntary separation pay,” the memo reads. “The eligibility window to self-identify for voluntary separation is extended to June 6, 2025, for Active Component Service members and July 7, 2025, for Reserve Component Service members.”

“We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. No more pronouns. No more climate change obsession. No more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that sh*t,” the Defense Secretary said in remarks at Special Operations Forces Week 2025 in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday.

Staff Writer

Chris Donaldson is an ordinary American who is concerned about rampant corruption as well as the ongoing attacks on our way of life by those who have contempt for our hard-earned freedoms. A Navy veteran, he has been a frequent contributor to conservative websites and resides in Florida.

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