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Fox News
5 days ago
- General
- Fox News
West Point decision to cut ‘duty, honor, country' from mission statement under fire again
EXCLUSIVE: A United States Military Academy mission statement swap from "duty, honor, country" to "Army Values" is coming under fire again — this time by a conservative judicial and government watchdog group who claims the school engaged in a "cover up" scheme when it altered its mission statement in 2024 as part of an effort to advance a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda. On March 11, 2024, West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland publicly announced that West Point would update its mission and insert the term "Army Values" in lieu of "duty, honor, country." Even so, Gilland stressed that "duty, honor, country" would remain West Point's motto as it has been since 1898. Judicial Watch obtained documents via a Freedom of Information Act request seeking all emails regarding the removal of "duty, honor, country" from the mission statement between officials at West Point. Among the documents Judicial Watch obtained is a document from Gilland detailing mission statement talking points for Founders Day speakers that was sent on March 23, 2024. The memo instructs speakers to "AVOID saying 'removed,' 'replaced,' 'deleted'—just refer to the 'updated mission statement and reinforce that the motto remains unchanged.'" The memo does not explicitly connect the mission statement change to any DEI initiatives. However, Judicial Watch argues that the talking points document it obtained implies DEI was a factor in the mission statement change because the document also contains an FAQ section that appears to downplay the role of DEI, claiming only five to eight students each year complete West Point's Diversity and Inclusion Studies minor. "These records detail how the DEI agenda helped change the mission statement of West Point — and how leadership under the Biden administration tried to cover it up," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a Thursday statement to Fox News Digital. But in the memo outlining mission statement talking points, Gilland urged speakers to push back against the narrative that the mission statement change was done for political purposes. "EMPHASIZE the actual seven values as some in the audience don't realize Army Values is a defined term and to counter the social media narrative that the Army Values change for political reasons. AVOID comparing DHC to AV—it's not either/or," the mission statement talking points document said. "AVOID the perception that the External Review Team was political or made the decision. The Academy selected them. They advised. Academy leadership made Decisions," the document said. The term "Army Values" keeps "duty" and "honor" within its core set of values, but also includes the following: loyalty, respect, selfless service, integrity and personal courage. Gilland said in a statement announcing the change that "country" is reflected in the term "loyalty." "The Army Values include Duty and Honor, and Country is reflected in Loyalty, bearing truth faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers," Gilland said in an announcement about the mission statement change. Gilland also said that "duty, honor, country" is "foundational to the United States Military Academy's culture and will always remain our motto." An Army spokesperson directed Fox News Digital to Gilland's original announcement where he wrote: "Our absolute focus on developing leaders of character ready to lead our Army's Soldiers on increasingly lethal battlefields remains unchanged." West Point is one of several U.S. military academies that trains students to become military officers. Meanwhile, West Point's mission statement has been changed nine times in the past century, and the words "duty, honor, country" didn't make it into West Point's mission statement until 1998. As of March 2024, West Point's mission statement is: "To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation." West Point's previous mission statement, first adopted in 2005, remained: "To educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army." West Point's superintendent at the time, Lt. Gen. William Lennox, requested the change in 2005 and then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker approved the change. Meanwhile, Republicans have pushed to incorporate "duty, honor, country" back into the mission statement. For example, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spearheaded legislation in January to add the words back to the military academy's mission statement. "For centuries, the United States Army has set the global standard for military excellence because its leaders embrace a lifetime of selfless service and embody the values of 'Duty, Honor, Country.' West Point's removal of these core values from its mission statement risks eroding the foundation of American military leadership," Cruz said in a statement in January.
New York Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Administration Live Updates: Documents Show E.P.A. Wants to Erase Greenhouse Gas Limits on Power Plants
President Trump and Lt. Gen. Steven W. Gilland, the United States Military Academy superintendent, during the academy's commencement ceremony on Saturday in West Point, N.Y. President Trump told cadets in a commencement address at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that they were the first graduates to serve in a 'golden age' of the nation that was a result of his efforts to rebuild the military and reshape American society. Gone were the 'nation-building crusades' in countries that 'wanted nothing to do with us' and leadership that subjected servicemembers to 'absurd ideological experiments here and at home,' Mr. Trump told the group of about 1,000 cadets. Wearing his red 'Make America Great Again' hat, Mr. Trump leaned into his aggressive agenda to purge diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the government, military and virtually every facet of American life, in making his pitch that the nation was worth fighting for again. He took credit for building the military 'better than ever before,' saying it had bolstered its recruitment numbers, morale and commitment to protecting America first. He drew applause from guests at times, such as when he discussed the issue of transgender athletes playing in female sports and hiring on merit over diversity. At the outset of his second term, he issued a spate of executive orders targeting programs and policies that aimed to help address systemic racism, which he deemed divisive and unpatriotic. He claimed that his predecessors had 'subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes, while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries' wars.' 'All of that's ended. It's ended strongly,' he said. 'They're not even allowed to think about it anymore.' Mr. Trump's crusade against diversity has been particularly pronounced in the military, where there has been an aggressive erasure of the valor of Black people, women and other groups, down to eliminating and obscuring content honoring those buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Image Mr. Trump spent considerable time praising the achievements of the graduates, telling them that they were graduating in a 'defining moment' in the Army's history. Credit... Kenny Holston/The New York Times Mr. Trump has also sought to overhaul the military by making its ranks less diverse. He removed a Black four-star general as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and dismissed high-ranking women. He also banned transgender people from serving in the military. His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host who served in the Army National Guard, has been among the most aggressive champions of Mr. Trump's campaign. At his first staff meeting, he proclaimed: 'I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is 'our diversity is our strength.'' Academics at West Point, a historically apolitical military academy that is run by the Department of Defense, was recently caught in the crossfire of Mr. Trump's culture war. To comply with Mr. Trump's and Mr. Hegseth's orders, the institution targeted books about race and gender for removal, disbanded a dozen affinity groups, scrubbed curriculums and dropped classes. Faculty members have publicly criticized what they see as a dangerous infringement on the school's academic freedom, and one even quit. In his commencement address, Mr. Trump did not address the turmoil on campus directly, but boasted about how he had 'liberated our troops from divisive and demeaning political trainings.' He also trumpeted how, in his administration, appointments and promotions are not based on politics or identity. 'We're a merit-based country again,' he said. Mr. Trump's remarks drew a stark contrast with the speech he gave when he spoke on the campus during his first term, as the country was in the midst of a reckoning over its racist history following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man whom the world watched cry for his mother as he lay dying under a white police officer's knee. In that 2020 speech, Mr. Trump urged West Point's graduating class to 'never forget' the legacy of soldiers before them, including those who had fought a bloody war to 'extinguish the evil of slavery.' 'What has historically made America unique is the durability of its institutions against the passions and prejudices of the moment,' Mr. Trump said then. 'When times are turbulent, when the road is rough, what matters most is that which is permanent, timeless, enduring and eternal.' This year, Mr. Trump extolled the starkly different cultural reckoning he was leading. 'We're getting rid of the distractions,' Mr. Trump said, 'and we're focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America's adversaries, killing America's enemies and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before.' 'The job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host drag shows, to transform foreign cultures,' he continued, before seeming to misspeak by adding, 'but to spread democracy to everybody around the world, at the point of a gun.' Image To comply with Mr. Trump's directives, the academy has targeted books about race and gender for removal, disbanded a dozen affinity groups, scrubbed curriculums and dropped classes. Credit... Kenny Holston/The New York Times Mr. Trump also rambled at times as he took shots at his opponents and told stories about his famous golf buddy Gary Player and how the real-estate developer William Levitt came to have a 'trophy wife.' He also spent considerable time praising the achievements of the graduates — he brought several of them onstage — and told them that they were graduating at a 'defining moment' in the Army's history, and were 'respected more than any army anywhere in the world.' Mr. Trump, who never served in the military and avoided the Vietnam War by citing bone spurs in his foot, touted projects that he hoped the new officers would be excited about, including new 'brand-new, beautiful planes,' and the Golden Dome missile defense shield initiative that he unveiled earlier this week. 'In a few moments, you'll become graduates of the most elite and storied military academy in human history,' Mr. Trump said. 'And you will become officers in the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known. And I know, because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military.'
