Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed military academies to cease considering race, ethnicity, or sex for admissions, emphasizing a shift towards merit-based evaluations. This directive aligns with President Trump's executive order aimed at eliminating race-based discrimination in the Armed Forces. Hegseth believes that focusing solely on merit enhances military effectiveness and readiness. He noted that while admissions will primarily be merit-based, factors like unique athletic talent or prior military experience may still be considered. This policy is intended to maintain high standards within elite military institutions as they prepare future leaders.
"The Military Service Academies (MSA) are elite warfighting institutions with long histories of producing world class military officers," Hegseth wrote in the memo to senior Defense Department leadership.
"Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces."
Hegseth argued that merit-based admissions will improve the military's "lethality" and "warfighting readiness."
The directive instructs military academies to "apply no consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex" and "offer admission based exclusively on merit" for the 2026 admissions cycle.
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