Cadets assemble at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Acceptance Day parade, which celebrates the completion of basic cadet training, in August 2024. The academy is one of the bases where a team will visit to check on compliance with executive orders related to diversity initiatives. (Dylan Smith/U.S. Air Force)
Small teams are scheduled to fan out to nine Air Force and Space Force installations by the end of March to review compliance with executive orders related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, service officials said this week.
The upcoming visits, scheduled through March 28, include U.S. locations only and were characterized as tentative. The U.S. Air Force Academy and the Special Operations Command will be evaluated, as will a handful of installations dedicated to training, recruiting and personnel administration.
Air Force officials at the Pentagon on Thursday did not say whether the visits would eventually expand overseas.
Teams of about five people will ensure diversity, inclusion and gender ideology are eliminated from all training and instruction, as well as from boards, councils and working groups, according to an Air Force statement.
Leaders with expertise in curriculum and promotion boards, among other areas, will be included on the teams, the service said. They’ll review documents and programs, speak with service members and civilians, and audit classrooms.
The review stems from an executive order aimed at abolishing diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives in the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth established a “Restoring America’s Fighting Force” task force on Jan. 29 charged with overseeing the department’s efforts to comply with the president’s orders.
“We will focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness,” Hegseth said in establishing the task force. “Providing service members an equal opportunity to excel will help us remain the strongest and most lethal fighting force the world has ever known.”
The DOD task force directs priorities for compliance with the executive order, and those are the areas which the Air Force teams will look at during their visits, the service statement said.
Those goals include eliminating sex, race or ethnicity when considering personnel for promotion, command or special duty; and for use in setting goals or quotas in organizational composition, academic admission or career fields.
Training and academy instructors are prohibited from teaching or using curriculum with critical race theory, gender ideology and DEI.
The bases slated for review are: Peterson Space Force Base, the Air Force Academy and Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado; Randolph Air Force Base and Joint Base San Antonio in Texas; Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.; Hurlburt Field Air Force Base, Fla.; Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.; and Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
The task force, which is directing the closure of DEI offices across the Pentagon and military services, has to provide a final report no later than June 1, DOD officials said.
