WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In a memorandum sent to leaders across the U.S. military Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the creation of a task force to oversee the strengthening of a military based entirely on merit.
'The Department of Defense has an obligation to the American public to ensure their sons and daughters serve under the best leadership we can provide them,' said Hegseth. 'Doing so is a national security imperative. A foundational tenet of the DOD must always be that the most qualified individuals are placed in positions of responsibility in accordance with merit-based, color-blind policies.'
The Task Force is named 'Restoring America's Fighting Force'. It will be established by the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness and is charged with overseeing department efforts to eliminate organizations, offices and policies that perpetrate non-merit factors such as sex, race or ethnicity over factors such as lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards or readiness, the secretary said.
'To ensure DOD focuses on its core mission of providing the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security, the department will ensure all decisions related to hiring, promotion and selection of personnel for assignments are based on merit, the needs of the department, and lastly, the individual's desires,' Hegseth said in the memorandum.
As part of its mission, the task force will oversee the standing down of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices across the department and military services along with the cessation of actions initiated by those offices which promote, among other things, ideologies related to systemic racism or gender fluidity.
The secretary has set a March 1 deadline for an initial report from the task force regarding its activities and June 1 as the deadline for a final report.
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