By Col. William A. Woodruff, US Army lawyer, retired
As the details of the complex, daring, and successful rescue of two downed F-15E crewmen recently emerged, America and the world stood amazed at the expertise, commitment, ingenuity, and bravery of those who lead and serve in the U.S. armed forces.
From the senior leadership who ordered the mission, to the downed crewmen, who followed their training and evaded capture, to the A-10 pilots who provided air support, to the special operators who lifted the crewmen onto helicopters for evacuation, to the helicopter pilots who took incoming fire but never wavered in their commitment to get to the downed crewmen, to the support personnel who played a critical role, the entire operation demonstrated the skill and competence of everyone involved.
The American military is the best in the history of the world.
But will it remain that way?
The question before Congress as it prepares to write the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is whether the merit principles that have produced the best military in the history of the world should be codified.
The failure to do so will allow a future administration to reinstate the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices of the Obama-Biden era and emphasize identity preferences over professional competence.
Comparing a DEI-focused Military with a Merit-focused Military
The DEI-focused military is exemplified by the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith, and CIA security contractors and former U.S. Special Operators Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty in the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.
Senior military leaders failed to develop an adequate security plan and chose not to mount a timely rescue mission or deploy reinforcements before terrorists killed the four U.S. citizens and ransacked the U.S. diplomatic mission.
The merit-based military is exemplified by the extraordinarily complex and exquisitely executed combat search-and-rescue operation that recovered the two crewmen of the Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle that was downed in Iran on April 3, 2026.
And there are other examples: Compare the planning and execution of the Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021 with Operations Midnight Hammer (June 22, 2025, an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites), Absolute Resolve (Jan. 3, 2026, the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro), and Epic Fury (ongoing airstrikes against Iran).
A Meritocracy Established by Executive Orders is Easily Discarded
The meritocracy that produced the casualty-free rescue of our downed aircrew in Iran, the stealth attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, the capture of Maduro, and the devastation of the terrorist regime in Iran is based on executive orders and administrative directives of the current president and secretary of war.
Those orders and directives can be revoked with the stroke of a pen by a future administration.
Enshrining the merit principles that have produced the remarkable military successes we have seen over the last 14 months into federal law will make it far more difficult to return to the days of DEI and identity preferences.
Beginning in 2011 in the first Obama administration, the U.S. military prioritized efforts to increase DEI within the ranks to create a military force that matches the demographic make-up of the nation.
“Diversity is a strategic imperative,” the Pentagon claimed. Skin color, ethnicity, and increasing the number of women and minorities in senior leadership positions, not merit, professional competence, or demonstrated leadership were the critical criteria for personnel decisions and leadership selection.
- Positions and offices specifically charged with developing, implementing, and evaluating DEI policies and goals were created.
- Congress joined the effort by authorizing and funding DEI positions and policies throughout the military.
- Commanders were evaluated on how well they implemented DEI policies and achieved the demographic goals established by senior leaders.
That “strategic imperative” resulted in the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle and the worst recruiting crisis since the creation of the all-volunteer force.
That same “strategic imperative” created a system that paralyzed decision-making and resulted in the death of Ambassador Stevens and three other brave Americans in Benghazi.
So Far Congress Has Failed to Adequately Address the Issue
Despite efforts by Congress in the 2024 NDAA to require merit as the criteria for military personnel decisions, the Pentagon leadership and the Biden Department of Justice ignored the well-meaning efforts of Congress and shamelessly argued in federal court that granting racial preferences in admissions to the U.S. Naval Academy was vital to national defense.
Congress addressed the issue anew in the 2026 NDAA and repealed or significantly amended the statutory basis for the Pentagon’s DEI infrastructure. It also made a minor change to the 2024 NDAA provision that addressed merit.
But it did not require merit to be the exclusive basis of personnel decisions.
Nor did it specifically forbid demographic preferences or discrimination.
It did not provide for reasonable accommodations and exceptions to account for unique mission-specific requirements. And, critically, it did not define key terms.
Under the law as it now exists, nothing prevents a future administration from returning to race and sex-based policies and returning to the “Diversity is a strategic imperative” philosophy that proved so disastrous in Benghazi and Afghanistan and destroyed the trust and confidence service members must have in each other as they go into harm’s way.
Congress Has Another Opportunity to Get Things Right
Every service member in the all-volunteer force expects and deserves leaders who earned their position exclusively through merit, demonstrated performance, and professional competence.
When the shooting starts, skin color and sex are irrelevant. What matters is whether the unit and the individual members of the unit can rely upon competent professionals to lead them to battlefield success and survival.
Merit and merit alone, not identity preferences, will produce the leaders our service members deserve.
The 2027 NDAA may be the last and best opportunity for Congress to display the same sort of fortitude and commitment to excellence that our loyal and brave service members displayed rescuing the downed F-15E crewmen.
Is Congress up to the task? I hope and pray that it is — lives depend on it.
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William Woodruff is a professor of law emeritus and a retired Army lawyer. As an Army lawyer, he served as chief of the litigation division and was responsible for defending the Army’s interests in civil litigation involving Army policies, programs, and operations.
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