On January 26, the United States Navy suspended all posts on social media with the exception of content relating to “operations defending our southern border,” which was deemed “a top priority for the Department of Defense.”
The Navy directive, released by Vice Admiral Michael E. Boyle, also called for the elimination of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) efforts within the Navy.
All agency Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices are closed and all DEIA-related contracts terminated…
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This crackdown against DEIA extended to civilian employees and contracts.
This guidance was issued regardless of DEIA’s minimal relevance to the Navy’s ability to fight under qualified leadership. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s memo, which established the “Restoring America’s Fighting Force Task Force,” was released three days after the Navy directive.
The first goal is to ensure that the department does “not consider sex, race, or ethnicity when considering individuals for promotion, command, or special duty,” although there may be exceptions “due to clear operational need,” the memo says.
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Yet, there is no such policy in any military branch that determines promotion or job selection based on anything other than merit. The memo also seeks an end to demographic quotas, which do not exist in the Navy or any other part of the military.
Alex Wagner, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, lambasted Hegseth for addressing problems which do not exist.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are a tiny sliver of what the Defense Department does,” Wagner wrote. “And the few initiatives that exist serve a clear national security purpose.”
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The Navy’s memo coincides with Hegseth’s call for “100% operational control of the border.”
