President Trump on Monday moved to dismiss the Board of Visitors for all four military service academies, claiming the groups have been “infiltrated” by so-called “woke leftists.”
“Our Service Academies have been infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues over the last four years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I have ordered the immediate dismissal of the Board of Visitors for the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard.”
The academy boards are tasked with inquiring into the state of morale and discipline, the curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and other matters relating to the schools.
The boards at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Academy consist of six members appointed by the president, three appointed by the vice president, four appointed by the House speaker, one designated by the Senate Armed Services Committee and one designated by the House Armed Services Committee.
While the board members are meant to provide independent advice and recommendations on the operation and other matters relating to the schools, in recent years they have become targets in political jostling.
President Biden in September 2021 purged all military academy board members appointed by Trump during his first term, a move that drew pushback considering each board member’s term is meant to last three years.
At the time, the White House defended the terminations by questioning the qualifications of several individuals, including former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, who sat on the Air Force Academy board, and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, a Navy Reserve officer who had been appointed to the Naval Academy board.
Trump signaled the same line of thinking with his dismissals, claiming new individuals must be appointed to “make the Military Academies GREAT AGAIN!”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said he wants to get “woke” civilian professors out of military academies and replace them with military personnel. However, experts say that may be difficult to execute given recruiting challenges.
