President Donald J. Trump announced sweeping changes to military education on Monday by dismissing the Board of Visitors for all four U.S. military academies. “Our Service Academies have been infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues over the last four years. I have ordered the immediate dismissal of the Board of Visitors for the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“We will have the strongest Military in History, and that begins by appointing new individuals to these Boards. We must make the Military Academies GREAT AGAIN!” he declared.
The Boards of Visitors at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy are composed of members appointed by various high-ranking officials, including the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, and leaders from both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. The boards oversee various aspects of academy operations, including morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, equipment, financial management, and academic methods.
Now-fired board members included John S. McCain IV, son of the late war hawk and Trump critic Senator John McCain, and far-left Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who previously lobbied for a hard cap on white Cabinet members unless they are gay or transgender.
President Trump’s move to purge the boards is not unprecedented. His predecessor, Joe Biden, controversially purged all board members appointed by Trump before the end of their three-year terms, alleging there were issues with their qualifications.
Trump’s board reforms follow Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expressing a desire to replace “woke” civilian professors with military personnel at military academies.