Admissions Criteria for Military Academies are About to Change Bigly

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made a huge announcement regarding admissions criteria for military academies.  His stance? Merit is all that matters.

The Daily Wire reports:

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 force in history.”

“The Military Service Academies (MSA) are elite warfighting institutions with long histories of producing world class military officers,” the defense secretary said in the memo. “The Department owes it to our Nation, our Service members, and the young Americans applying to the MSAs to ensure admissions to these prestigious institutions are based exclusively on merit.”

This is exactly how it should be. As a woman, I want to know I’m being recognized because I performed at the highest level, not because someone handed it to me to meet a quota. And when it comes to the military, prioritizing excellence is a no-brainer. This is not racist or sexist at all—and saying it is means you are undercutting the potential of minorities.

Good on Hegseth. We should be focused on creating lean, mean, fighting machines. Not checking a box on a diversity form.