As part of his vision for a more lethal, war-ready armed forces, Hegseth has already approved more rigorous physical standards and booted non-deployable troops who identify as transgender.
He is apparently also focused on ending race-based and gender-based admissions standards at the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy.
Those military schools, known as military service academies, prepare graduates for a military career as an officer in the U.S. armed forces.
The military academies, and their diversity-driven admissions, were also excluded from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That landmark decision, in 2023, struck down race admissions at U.S. colleges and universities but the justices steered around admissions at the military academies.
In a memo about new admissions standards, Hegseth wrote the new policy ensures only the “most qualified candidates" will be admitted.
"Selecting anyone but the best,” the memo reads, “erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces."
Military analyst Kirk Lippold is a Naval Academy graduate and former navy ship commander. He tells AFN he understands Hegseth’s concerns about a lethal armed forces but, Lippold adds, the armed forces should reflect society.
“It must reflect it racially, ethnically, culturally,” Lippold argues, “because if you don't do that, you're going to have leadership problems in the future."
Lippold's viewpoint, which runs counter to Hegseth's memo, lines up with a federal judge's ruling late last year. That ruling said the Naval Academy could continue to use race in admissions because a diverse officer corps "represents the country it protects and the people it leads."
The group Students for Fair Admissions, which challenged the Naval Academy admissions, is the same group that sued Harvard and won the landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2023.
Officers with 'competence, courage, and commitment'
Hegseth’s push for merit-based admissions got a warmer reaction from national security analyst Bob Maginnis. A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, and a West Point graduate, Maginnis said he served in the infantry alongside “outstanding officers” who came from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds.
“In my experience, those who rose through the ranks did so because of their competence, courage, and commitment—not because of the color of their skin,” Maginnis wrote in an email to AFN.
Hegseth’s memo reflects a growing concern the military academies are shifting from merit and prioritizing demographics, Maginnis wrote. It is true diversity can bring valuable perspectives but it shouldn’t replace excellence.
“The academies should reflect the best of America, not a social engineering experiment,” Maginnis wrote. “True equality means assessing candidates on their abilities, achievements, and character—not creating group-specific preferences or quotas.”
