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…
