President Donald Trump on Feb. 10 ordered the immediate dismissal of four military Boards of Visitors, oversight groups that monitor the academies of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
“Our Service Academies have been infiltrated by Woke Leftist ideologues over the last four years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“We will have the strongest Military in History, and that begins by appointing new individuals to these Boards.”
The Boards of Visitors, according to the U.S. Air Force Academy, inquire “into the state of morale and discipline, the curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and other matters” relating to the military academies.
Six of its members are appointed by the president, three by the vice president, and four more by the speaker of the House. More are picked by the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee.
Trump’s replacing of the board members is not completely new.
President Joe Biden asked 18 Trump-appointed members to step down in September 2021 and subsequently replaced them with his own appointees. Members typically serve for three years.
The dismissals are the latest stage in Trump’s plan to reshape the U.S. military and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, which he says degrade U.S. warfighting ability.
Pete Hegseth was confirmed as defense secretary in January after facing heavy scrutiny from members of Congress over not just his personal life but also his views on the state of the military.
Hegseth had been a vocal critic of lowering physical standards for women who serve in combat and of “woke” and DEI programs in the military. He has vowed to focus on improving the military’s warfighting capability and readiness.
On Jan. 27, Trump signed an executive order restricting openly transgender individuals from serving in the armed forces and rescinding a previous Biden executive order that expressly permitted them to serve.
In implementing this order, Hegseth recently ordered a halt to both transgender procedures for members of the military and new recruitments of people with a history of gender dysphoria, or the belief that they are a different gender from their actual sex.
A group of transgender-identifying service members have sued to block Trump’s executive order, arguing it violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause. A hearing has not yet been scheduled in the case.
The Associated Press and Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.
