Trump’s DEI Purge in the Military Puts U.S. National Security at Risk

The crusade against women and minorities that the U.S. government has unleashed since Donald Trump’s inauguration as president is doing incalculable harm to government and public service. The “anti-DEI” campaign is turning into a witch hunt against anyone who has embraced the idea—and government policy until January—that a more representative government is better equipped to address the country’s rapidly expanding challenges. This notion does not contradict the idea of meritocracy but rather is a way of ensuring that institutions and organizations harness additional, untapped talent. Starting in the first Trump administration, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts were launched to ensure that women and minorities have an equal chance to compete for jobs and promotions. Just as tariffs are immensely destructive to American livelihoods and prosperity, the DEI witch hunt, if not quickly halted, will deprive the government of expertise and experience and cause the next generation to shun public service. 

Recent Dismissal of Shoshana Chatfield 

The dismissal of the two top women in the U.S. military last month was followed this week by the dismissal of Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield from her position as the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee. The U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Sean Parnell said the move was due to “a loss of competence in her ability to lead.” She has been targeted by rightwing groups for statements supporting diversity. Her departure deprives the United States of experience at a historic juncture when the United States has raised questions about its commitment to Europe. The new U.S. ambassador to NATO does not have a background in foreign policy, national security, or NATO. Chatfield, on the other hand, has years of NATO experience: before becoming the U.S. military representative to NATO in 2023, she previously served as senior military assistant to the supreme allied commander Europe and as the U.S. deputy military representative to the NATO Military Committee from 2015 to 2017.  

Among her qualifications earned in 38 years of service, Chatfield is a combat veteran, helicopter pilot, former commander of Joint Region Marinas, and the first woman president of the Naval War College, armed with a master of public administration from Harvard and a doctorate in education. The Navy only selects its most qualified leaders to head the Naval War College in Newport; she followed an august line that included admirals Art Cebrowski, Stansfield Turner, and James Stockdale. 

Democratic senators and members of congress including ranking members of the armed services and intelligence committee have condemned this latest firing, but as yet no Republicans leaders have expressed concern that highly qualified service leaders are being fired without concrete or valid justification. In 2022, thirty-five retired senior defense officials, including four former chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff, signed an amicus brief supporting diversity as vital for the nation’s armed services. “History has shown that placing a diverse Armed Forces under the command of a homogeneous leadership is a recipe of internal resentment, discord, and violence,” they said. The latest firings have prompted several retired senior officers to publicly denounce the snowballing number of dismissals that appear to be motivated solely by prejudice. 

Retired Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett, who teaches at the University of Mississippi Center for Intelligence and Security Studies, called for Congressional Republicans to act in a LinkedIn post applauded by a number of former officers. Barnett wrote: “Dear Republicans, especially Senator Wicker (Retired Air Force Lt Colonel) and Congressman Trent Kelly (Major General Natl Guard): You know that firing senior officers such as Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield is wrong and dangerous for our country! You must speak out. Now. VADM Chatfield is a seasoned pilot, she commanded a unit in Afghanistan, she earned a Bronze Star and two Legion of Merit medals, she is brilliant, and she served as President of the Naval War College. Republicans, only you can stop this. Stop this!”  

DEI Purge in Naval Academy Library Ahead of Pete Hegseth’s Visit 

The latest firing comes on the heels of growing purges of books from military libraries. In a frightening Orwellian turn, the very use of the word “diversity” is not only a cause for dismissal but a justification for censorship. Officials are using keyword searches including diversity, gender, feminism, and racism to purge the service academy libraries that help educate public servants. On the eve of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s visit to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, 381 books of academic and instructional value were removed from its library. The culling removed books about leadership and management in the context of daily realities that include racism and gender diversity and ranged so far as to purge a book on girls in Afghanistan and studies of sexuality in the literature of Henry James, William Faulkner, and Thomas Pynchon. The book burnings staged by Savonarola come to mind. 

Last fall, Hegseth advertised in a podcast with Shawn Ryan that he would conduct such purges. He said, “Any general that was involved, any general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI/woke s--t has got to go.” He also flatly opposed women serving in combat, despite their longstanding combat roles in many of our allies’ militaries. Since January, other high-ranking women who have been fired include Admiral Linda Fagan, the commandant of the Coast Guard; Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the chief of naval operations; and Lieutenant General Jennifer Short, senior military assistant to the secretary of defense, whom Hegseth removed as soon as he arrived at the Pentagon. 

Another retired rear admiral who served in multiple senior roles in the Pentagon predicted that the Trump administration’s actions will have a damaging effect on the armed services. “I think these actions and the accompanying rhetoric will have the effect of discouraging young women, and young men like me back in the day, from being part of an organization that does not see women as equal to men,” he told me. “Not only will this adversely affect the quality of those who join and stay, it will empower misogynistic men to treat women who do stay like they did in the ’80s and ’90s when the rules said they were not equal.” 

Reversal on Diversity Hiring and Programs Since First Trump Term  

The third distressing episode this week was a hearing convened by the oversight subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on April 9. The title of the subcommittee indicated that its chair, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), had already reached his conclusions: “Deficient, Enfeebled & Ineffective: The Consequences of the Biden Administration’s Far-Left Priorities.” Mills proceeded to interrupt and badger the chief witness, longtime foreign service officer Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, as she testified in very precise terms about her role as the State Department’s chief diversity and inclusion officer (CDIO) from April 2021 to 2023. The State Department’s goal, she succinctly summarized, was to ensure diversity in recruiting, and merit in hiring. Only those meeting the qualifications would be hired. 

Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley pointed out that the diversity unit at the State Department got its start during President Trump’s first term. A Government Accountability Office study found clear evidence that underrepresented groups were promoted at much lower rates than white males and that “the proportion of racial or ethnic minorities and women was lowest at management and executive levels.” The State Department was 68 percent white in 2018, and various practices had prompted successful equal opportunity lawsuits against the department. The ambassador pointed out that, for example, openings for deputy assistant secretary, the critical gateway to higher leadership, were not posted for all to see and apply for. 

The ambassador recalled that State’s policy changes were strongly embraced at the time. Abercrombie-Winstanley noted that in her first congressional testimony as CDIO, then-Senator Marco Rubio expressed his support, stating that “not only is our nation’s diversity our strength, but if our workforce doesn’t reflect our population then it merits inquiry.” 

Various roadblocks still exist for women and minorities in national security and foreign policy. Among the problems women in the military face, none is more serious than the continued high rate of sexual assault and harassment, despite reforms in the military justice system to prosecute such crimes. Women and minorities struggle to achieve promotion rates even when they are equally qualified for other reasons. One study on low retention in the naval officer corps published in the journal Proceedings enumerated the need for more family-friendly policies and more senior leaders as role models.  

Attrition at the top will reverberate throughout the U.S. military. Franchetti’s retirement following her dismissal as head of the Navy leaves the U.S. military without any four-star generals or admirals who are women. And if Chatfield retires, there will be only eighteen women three-star generals and admirals in the entire U.S. military. Women comprise 18 percent of the active-duty military as of January 2025. Today, women comprise 31 percent of the Naval Academy’s class of 2028, and the academy is led by its first woman superintendent, Rear Admiral Yvette Davids. They are vital parts of the U.S. national security force, and their premature departures would deprive the country of greatly needed talent.