Pentagon orders swift review, removal of library books that address diversity, anti-racism

The Pentagon has ordered military leaders to remove and review all library books that relate to diversity, anti-racism or gender issues within the next two weeks, according to a new memo issued Friday.

The order, signed by acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel Timothy Dill, marks the most wide-reaching directive in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to eradicate diversity and equity programs, policies and reading material across the military. 

The U.S. Naval Academy earlier this spring removed nearly 400 books that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from its library after a review, with the West Point Military Academy and Air Force Academy conducting similar reviews of their books and curriculum.

But the new directive goes far beyond that effort, ordering all military educational institutions such as war colleges and military service academies to “identify library materials that may conflict with our core mission” and “appropriately sequester those materials” by May 21, according to the order. 

Hegseth also put out a memo Friday ordering the service academies to admit students “based exclusively on merit,” with “no consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex,” underlining the word “no” on the document. Academies must confirm within 30 days that they are adhering to those standards. 

“This ensures only the most qualified candidates are admitted, trained, and ultimately commissioned to lead the finest fighting force in history,” Hegseth writes. “Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces.”

He notes that the schools can give weight to “unique athletic talent,” prior military service or those who attended a military prep school, and that the academies must rank student candidates by their “merit-based scores” within each nomination category. Those include students nominated by the vice president, senators or members of Congress, and those whose parents are or were service members. 

The directives are the latest steps in the Trump administration’s sweeping effort to eliminate DEI content across the federal government, which have included attempts to remove DEI content from the Defense Department websites and social media pages. 

That initiative received significant backlash after it resulted in the removal of military heroes and historic mentions, including baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s military service, Japanese American veterans, the Navajo Code Talkers and Army Maj. Gen. Charles C. Rogers, a Black recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Officials said such removals were mistakes and have been reversed.

The memo on library books, meanwhile, says that a temporary Academic Libraries Committee - comprised of “knowledgeable leaders, educators, and library professionals” from across the military - will provide information on which books to review and how to decide if they should ultimately be removed.

The panel provided a list of search terms to use in the initial identification of the books to be pulled and reviewed, including affirmative action, allyship, anti-racism, critical race theory, discrimination, DEI, gender dysphoria, gender identity, gender transition, transgender, transsexual and white privilege.

The committee will give additional guidance on how to determine which books should be removed and “determine an appropriate ultimate disposition of the materials.” 

Not all books initially flagged are likely to be removed, as the Naval Academy identified about 900 books to review but 381 were taken out of the library.

But the purge did include books on histories of feminism, racism and civil rights, Black soldiers in World War II, the Holocaust and Maya Angelou’s autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”