The U.S. Military will no longer consider sex, race, or ethnicity when evaluating individuals for promotion, command, or special duty assignments, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a memo Wednesday.

“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,” Hegseth said. “The DOD mission is to win the Nation’s wars. To do this, we must have a lethal fighting force that rewards individual initiative, excellence, and hard work based on merit.”

Hegseth also directed staff to create a DEI task force to ensure no diversity, equity, inclusion programs remain in the Pentagon.

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