WASHINGTON—Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is taking further action to ensure that only the best and brightest applicants enter America’s military academies.
Beginning with the 2026 United States Military admissions cycle, the Defense Department will not apply race or sex-based preferences during review processes for applicants to the Military Services Academies, Hegseth announced in a memo exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire.
The move is part of the continued pushback from President Donald Trump’s administration to remove ideological principles from his agencies and to focus hiring and admissions on merit, rather than race or sex. This is particularly important in the United States military, Hegseth said in the memo, which was issued Friday, arguing that “only the most qualified candidates are admitted, trained, and ultimately” admitted to lead “the finest fighting force in history.”
“The Military Service Academies (MSA) are elite warfighting institutions with long histories of producing world class military officers,” the defense secretary said in the memo. “The Department owes it to our Nation, our Service members, and the young Americans applying to the MSAs to ensure admissions to these prestigious institutions are based exclusively on merit.”
Memo exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire.
“Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces,” Hegseth said.
The memo directs secretaries of military departments to certify within 30 days that Military Service Academies’ admissions offices will apply “no consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex” and will offer “admission based exclusively on merit.”
“Unlike the previous administration — whose policies put immutable characteristics before ability – Secretary Hegseth is requiring our Military Service Academies to base their admissions exclusively on merit, rewarding individual initiative, excellence, and hard work,” acting Defense Department Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told The Daily Wire.
The Pentagon views the move as necessary to properly defend the United States. The Military Service Academies are a cornerstone in their efforts to produce world-class military officers. After the completion of the 2026 Military Service Academies admissions cycle, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness will certify that each of the MSAs are compliant with the new practices prioritizing merit, The Daily Wire has learned.
“The Department must remain steadfast in its pursuit of excellence and never compromise the high standards at our MSAs,” Hegseth concluded. “A strong officer corps is essential to ensuring the United States military remains the most lethal the world has ever known.”
The directive builds off Trump’s January executive order “Restoring America’s Fighting Force,” which states that “no individual or group within our Armed Forces should be preferred or disadvantaged on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, color, or creed.” Trump directed that all DEI offices within the Defense Department be abolished and banned the military from “promoting, advancing, or otherwise inculcating the following un-American, divisive, discriminatory, radical, extremist, and irrational theories.”
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