By Vivian Salama, Nancy A. Youssef and Lara Seligman | Wall Street Journal
The Trump transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel with the power to review three- and four-star officers and to recommend removals of any deemed unfit for leadership.
If Donald Trump approves the order, it could fast-track the removal of generals and admirals found to be “lacking in requisite leadership qualities,” according to a draft of the order reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. But it could also create a chilling effect on top military officers, given the president-elect’s past vow to fire “woke generals,” referring to officers seen as promoting diversity in the ranks at the expense of military readiness.
As commander in chief, Trump can fire any officer at will, but an outside board whose members he appoints would bypass the Pentagon’s regular promotion system, signaling across the military that he intends to purge a number of generals and admirals.
The draft order says it aims to establish a review that focuses “on leadership capability, strategic readiness, and commitment to military excellence.” The draft doesn’t specify what officers need to do or present to show if they meet those standards. The draft order originated with one of several outside policy groups collaborating with the transition team, and is one of numerous executive orders under review by Trump’s team, a transition official said.
The warrior board would be made up of retired generals and noncommissioned officers, who would send their recommendations to the president. Those identified for removal would be retired at their current rank within 30 days.
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman, declined to comment on this draft executive order, but said “the American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.”
The establishment of the board would be in line with Trump’s calls for purging what he views as failed generals, including those involved in the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to people familiar with the policy discussions. Trump has said he would ask all generals involved in the withdrawal to resign by “noon on Inauguration Day.”
The president-elect previewed the move during a campaign event in October, telling an audience that he would create a task force to monitor the “woke generals” and get rid of diversity training in the military.
“They’re gone,” Trump said of those generals, without naming specific officers.
One feared potential target of Trump’s threatened purge could be Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to two defense officials. During the 2020 George Floyd protests, Brown spoke about the impact that movement had on him and what it was like to rise through the military ranks as a Black fighter pilot.
The executive order, which has been reviewed by the president-elect’s transition team, may be presented to Trump when he takes office, and its implementation depends on whether he chooses to sign it in its current form, according to a person familiar with its drafting.
Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, which is pending, would be key in implementing the findings of the warrior board’s review. It isn’t clear who is on the shortlist to be Pentagon chief, after the top three contenders—Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rep. Mike Waltz (R., Fla.)—either dropped out, were ruled out or were given another job in the administration.
The Trump team wants to do major reforms at the Defense Department, particularly around the size of the joint staff, according to a person with knowledge of the transition.
“It’s gotten way too big,” this person said. “Trump also expects that many of the generals, the three- and four-star generals that have been underperforming will basically be retired.”
The draft executive order cites as precedent for the move Gen. George C. Marshall’s creation of a “plucking board” in 1940, led by retired general officers, to review the files of senior serving military officers and “remove from line promotion any officer for reasons deemed good and sufficient.” The goal of Marshall’s board was to make room to promote promising junior officers.
But some former officials believe the incoming Trump administration is looking to politicize the military.
“Do they start wearing MAGA hats in formation to signal who’s where?” asked one former senior Pentagon official. “The potential for this to go wrong is infinite.”
The president has the power to fire generals but rarely does so for political reasons. President Harry Truman fired Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur for publicly challenging the administration’s Asia security strategy. President Barack Obama fired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal as his Afghanistan commander after the military leader’s subordinates were quoted as criticizing the administration in a magazine article.
U.S. troops take an oath of office to the Constitution and vow to not follow any illegal order, and Congress must approve the promotion of general officers.
But establishing a board separate from the current process, which uses serving officers, could undermine the idea that generals refrain from sharing their political views within the Pentagon. It could also potentially prompt officers not to speak out against orders they believe are illegal, says Eric Carpenter, professor of military law at Florida International University College of Law.
“This looks like an administration getting ready to purge anyone who will not be a yes man,” said Carpenter, a former Army lawyer. “If you are looking to fire officers who might say no because of the law or their ethics, you set up a system with completely arbitrary standards, so you can fire anyone you want.”
In the early days of his presidency, Trump openly expressed admiration for military generals and promoted a number of them to his administration. Ret. Marine Gen. Jim Mattis served as his first defense secretary. Ret. Marine Gen. John Kelly was his chief of staff and Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster served as national security adviser.
But relations between Trump and the generals quickly soured. By the end of his term, all three of those officers publicly criticized him and described him as a threat to national security.
The president-elect also had a particularly fraught relationship with Ret. Army Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump nominated to serve as his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the final two years of his first administration. Milley told journalist Bob Woodward in his latest book that Trump is “a total fascist.”
Trump has called Milley a “loser.”
First published in The Wall Street Journal
What People Are Saying
Some of the 4K+ comments on this article from the comment section
“Everyone in command who was responsible for the debacle in Afghanistan should have already turned in their resignation. This shouldn’t be controversial.”
“Like the civilian federal bureaucracy, the military is and has been politicized favoring the left. This opinion is based on many discussions with those still in the military or now retired.”
“As a retired Air Force colonel, I can tell you that any general that supports diversity equity and inclusion has violated his or her constitutional oath by promoting people based on race and gender instead of equally applying the law and promoting based on merit. Any general that has supported diversity equity and inclusion and BLM, an organization started and run by avowed Marxists, should be fired immediately. These are the generals who politicized the military not Trump! Trump is merely purging the politicized generals and admirals out of the military and it needs to be done ASAP. My friends who are still in the military are sick and tired of wasting time on race and gender politics instead of training to better defend the country!”
“In my nearly 24 years in uniform, I never felt political pressure until Biden was inaugurated. Mind you, I was only an O-5, but I felt it just the same. The author of this article failed to mention the Extremism Standdown that every member of the military had to debase themselves to. It was hugely offensive to call into question that loyalty and patriotism of the all-volunteer force. A year or two later it was reported that, upon further review, there is not an extremism problem in the US military. We all knew that already. That and the horrible, cruel, unnecessary COVID policies were, effectively, purity tests for members of the military writ large.“
“44 yrs in the Air Force. Quit a bit early due to diversity/wokeness being forced on everybody. No general stood up to it. Wouldn’t let anybody I know get anywhere close to serving now. President Trump should release all 3/4 star generals on day 1, no board needed. It wouldn’t hurt national security one bit.”
“Friend’s son who has dreamed of a military career his entire life just got his first command. They don’t think he will stay after his first term due to the absurd focus on DEI, absurd levels of social engineering and especially with what he sees promoted around him and assignments given to incompetents he came up with. Really sad…this has what he wanted to do with his life as long as I can remember.“
“I remember one of the first things the Biden administration did was to remove all Republicans from the boards of all US military service academies. This stuff happens, and the Trump administration would be well within their rights to return the favor.”
“Those of us who have had sons and daughters who have attended military academies over the past several years certainly noticed the change over the past four years.”
“Trump needs to get rid of all Obama/Biden DEI and CRT officers, no exceptions. When I served we had no politics other than serving the Constitution. Not the case today. The current environment is making military families prevent their children to follow in their footsteps because of the current decay. Further, the President Elect, and Elon Musk must also look at the civilian force in DOD as they represent an invisible power that remains once those of us in uniform pass through. The cleanup must be of uniform and civilians, whose power is never in the news.”
“This article paints Trump as politicizing the military when the exact opposite is true. The military was politicized under Biden to implement DEI and woke policies that are in direct conflict with good military theory, policy and implementation. Trump will be getting rid of that rot.”
“The current generals and admirals that believe White supremacy and climate change are the most urgent threats to the US should be fired.”
“Pentagon is bloated beyond belief. Wokeness and politicization have driven away recruits from generational military families. Despite the hubris, mistakes and preventable deaths, no one ever losses their jobs in D.C. Trump has no choice but to apply a rigorous standards on performance and ability on DOD leadership and all Flag Officers. Those with proven competence should not worry, those who have created failed programs, death and/or obsessed with appearances, gender and race belong elsewhere.”
“Families with generations of military are advising their kids to stay away due to DEI and wokeness that could get them killed in combat.”
“The upper ranks are indeed bloated. Lesley Groves was a Colonel when the Manhattan Project started. The fact that no one had the courage to resign after the Afghanistan surrender shows that career interests override everything else. We need to get back to short chains of commands and delegate authority down. The military has become a uniformed bureaucracy.”
“As if the military under Obama a Biden were not already thoroughly politicized. Top priorities “climate crisis” and DEI ? No fighting man would ever come up with that nonsense. It all has to be weeded out ASAP. An example of what happens when politics determines promotion, rather than ability as a warrior – the Afghanistan withdrawal. No one was ever fired for that debacle, and why should they be? The military’s Climate and DEI priorities are those of the democrat administration. Well isn’t that a coincidence.”
“It strikes me that our current generals sitting in the Pentagon are an unmitigated disaster of woke and DEI and need to be gone ASAP.”
“The best way to fire generals is have a war. But that became far less likely when Trump won the election. So this might be a good alternative.”
“”The politicization of the armed forces” happened under the reign of senile Democrat President Joe Biden. What happens next is de-politicizing the armed forces, which will be a lot harder as the DEI recruits and pushers there burrow in. Thank you, President Trump, for going hard after this objective. It’s a national security priority.”
“Those who spend effort on DEI need to be gone so our military can get back to be a fighting machine.”
“The military has been fully politicized over the past 4 years. Where was your “politicization” headline when that was happening?”
“I have noted with concern the difficulty that most of the military is having these days to meet its recruitment goals. I believe a large part of that is that the kinds of people who would normally be attracted to the military no longer are by its current emphasis on wokeness. It’s tough for me to get worked up over the removal of those who established this downward trend. Their emphasis ought to be towards lethality, not diversity. Anyone not subscribing to those goals can hit the trail. Let them run the DEI division of some defense contractor.”
“He’s going to purge wokeness from the military, and not a moment too soon.”
“Good. Long overdue. Everyone familiar with the military knows that today’s military leadership went woke under Obama and get worse under Biden. THEY purged officers who did not go along with THEIR politicization. Our best war fighters left and recruiting way down. Look at Iraq – the generals were terrible until GW Bush changed them. Look at Afghanistan — disgraceful without a whisper of objection from these current generals. Our Navy? Warships getting rammed by slow container ships. Reagan had to clean house. FDR and Gen George Marshall fired generals who did not perform. And we have more generals and admirals than we need. Dictatorship? No. It’s necessary housecleaning — right along with the Pentagon procurement morass. Opposition? More hysteria.”
“This review board will be important to prepare for the next war. Unless I’m mistaken, it’s not just going to retire senior officers who are deemed woke, like the current head of the Joint Chiefs (and I agree it needs to be done). It’s going to be culling the general officer corps (and the flag officer corps) of those who don’t seem to have what it takes to win battles and, more importantly, wars. This is exactly what Gen. George C. Marshall did in 1940 to prepare us for the war that anybody could see was coming for us. Marshall spotted officers who had what it takes, including Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley. Si vis pacem, para bellum.”
“Sounds like if you aren’t a political activist and are doing your job then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
“Having spent three years enjoying a Pentagon assignment I can’t wait to see what this board ends up doing assuming it materializes. My lasting impression was the number of do nothing flag officers hanging around.”
“Our military has been weakened over the years as democrats. made it their petri dish for social experiments . Nobody ever pushed back.”
“Our military leaders must focus on lethality and troop welfare. Any time spent on diversity is wasted time, and we do not have time to waste.”
“what it was like to rise through the military ranks as a Black fighter pilot”? I’ll tell you what it was like. 100% egalitarian and meritocratic. People don’t promote pilots on whose lives they might depend on anything other than stick ability . The alternative would be insane.”
“The military has already been politicized. It now desperately needs to be de-politicized.”
“All General Officers serve at the pleasure of the President. Get used to it. Its about time. The military has been poorly led for decades, start firing low performers. Anyone involved in the Afghanistan debacle 1st up.”
“Woke has no place in the military. The military exists to protect us, not to further a liberal’s social agenda. I want the best person defending this country possible, not someone that checks the woke boxes.”
““Politicize the military? “ Who writes stuff like this? The military has already been politicized. Looking for non-existent white supremacists?”
“Definition of “woke”: Anti-American, Anti-Freedom, Anti-Societal, Anti-Semitic, and most damning of all: Cowardly. No Officer of any rank who shows signs of being infected with the woke mind virus belongs in the US Armed Forces, period.”
“If I were President, one of the first things I would do on Day 1 would be to cancel all DEI programs in the military. If the military is going to fulfill its obligations to protect the security of this country, it must be a meritocracy and DEI programs subvert that concept.”
“The dopy General testifying before Congress that he “was worried about white rage” left a mark on my memory. Also, who approved a trans-ensign prancing around in a dress as a recruiting campaign for the Navy? Sounds like the Generals & Admirals need to be tightened up a bit. Maybe go back to reading Sun Tzu and Clausewitz instead DEI pamphlets. Oh, and I remember Obama purging the brass of conservatives, so turnabout is fair play. Lastly as an enlisted man I expect a lot from a general or admiral and after watching Afghanistan I think there are quite a few big brass types that need to be fired, and inauguration day is not a moment too soon.”
“Every branch of service(even my USMC) and DoD has an office of DEI. This goes all the way down from the Pentagon to field commands, and from my understanding, they are mainly civilians staffing these jobs. The USN could get an new attack sub or catch up on all the overdue maintenance for the entire Navy with the money saved by firing all these people.”
“It’s not about right wing, it’s about getting rid of philosophies that are rotting and damaging our military. The purpose of the military is to fight and k ill, not be a social woke experiment. It’s going to take decades to reverse the damage Biden did.”
“The military is already politicized via the woke virus. This may not be a perfect means of addressing it, but a military that can’t recruit, and whose field competence gave us the withdrawal from Afghanistan, needs significant reforms.”
“If Trump is looking for retired Generals to staff this board he need look no further than those Generals who were axed by Obama. Obama culled conservative military personnel en masse. People I knew in the military at the time were furious with how Obama was changing leadership, good loved leadership, to change culture. Trump isn’t looking for military leaders interested in political games he wants effective military leaders not politicians. I think the military will be jumping for joy with how Trump changes military leadership to change culture 180 degrees by eliminating all WOKE leadership.”
“Woke Politics and DEI has no place in the US military.”
“Given the gradual decay of the military’s readiness, the elevation of ‘wokism’ and ‘critical race theories,’ the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal, and the pathetic balloon escapade … there’d better be a purge.”
“Raise concerns about politization of the military”? Raise concerns? The Department of Defense needs a new/old name: Department of War, though I’d settle for Dept of Winning. And it very much needs a complete change in leadership, to throw out the CRT/DEI crowd Obama and Biden have mustered in. No amount of hardware will help defend the country until this is taken care of. Our military has been politicized since Bill Clinton instituted the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy and threw out the “warrior culture”, since Jimmy Carter appointed Zumwalt to lead the Navy. The morale of the military has suffered from 50 years of politization, which is why the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Space Force can’t attract volunteers.”
“Let’s not try to spin this as something that Trump invented…the military is already politicized. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution.”
“I do like the idea that he is using retired military personnel vs. active individuals who still have concerns regarding promotion and assignment. As another commenter mentioned, this is akin to a board of directors overseeing management. Great idea and glad that he is using professionals for feedback.”
“Are we trying to sell the idea that progressives have not politicized the military with the progressive agenda? The business of the military is to fight and win wars. Anything other than that, is a poor use of their time.”
“Any general that actively promoted or defended radical Left woke DEI garbage must be forcibly retired asap.”
“If the concern is the military might be politicized it seems that ship has sailed. We can’t have generals more concerned about DEI than competence in the military. People die and get horrifically injured in battle.”
“All officers and even senior enlisted who support DEI and climate nonsense should be relieved of duty immediately for violating their constitutional oaths.”
“I am a Veteran and will be very happy to see our military focused on defense of our nation instead of woke DEI nonsense.”
“DEI does not belong in the Military. And forcing young healthy men and women out of the military for not taking the covid vaccine weakened our military. GET RID of the DEI promotions in our military starting with Dr. Rachel Levine the Trans 4 star general who in her role, Levine was supposed lead a team of more than 6,000 officers who respond to public health crises and natural disasters.”
“It’s about time that the useless bureaucratic fat had a meat cleaver taken to it. We need Warriors, not social experiments.”
“Generals that sponsor the woke/DEI policies that are going on in the military must go! Back to the basics of combat effectiveness and lethality.”
“No one wants to serve in woke army.”
“”But some former officials believe the incoming Trump administration is looking to politicize the military.” In other words, the group that has politicized the military now doesn’t want the military politicized.”
“Time to repair the damage to the military done by the Obama and Biden administrations. Cut out the woke cancer and restore esprit de corps.”
“Chutzpah– the military has never been more politicized and never more unprepared to defend America. After missing every recruiting goal in all the services because it has become sissified– drag shows at military bases, the full unadulterated adoption of DEI and race/sexual orientation above merit, male officers in dresses and much more. Our enemies recognize our weakness and are taking full advantage.”
“”But some former officials believe the incoming Trump administration is looking to politicize the military.” Funny people! This is what has been going on since the Obama presidency. DEI has been in full force since the Democrats ran the country but now, they think weeding out the non performers and those incapable of making a strong military to defend us is using politics as a tool too get rid of them. When the shoe is on the other foot….”
“Politicize the military?!?!?!?! That’s what the anti constitutional anti American tyrannical left has done with all government departments and their services. Military promotions based on DEI has no place in the military where military job performance excellence should be the ONLY criteria!! The people spoke and want Trump to clean house and purge the government of top managers who are incompetent and disloyal to the American people they serve and the constitutional they should follow!!”
“Long overdue. As Commander In Chief, the POTUS Trumps the Pentagon for picks of Generals, etc. If the last 4 years have taught America anything, it is that the administrative state cannot, and should not be left to run itself. Get command personnel in place who can have our military ready to fight anytime/anyplace. General Milley’s actions in reaching out to China and other adversaries at the end of 2020 to usurp control of the military from Trump should lead to a court martial. Long overdue.”
“Um, where were the generals standing up to Biden’s mad rush to exit Afghanistan by Sept 11? Did they think abandoning military equipment to the Taliban was no big deal? I don’t think I want those generals defending me anymore.”
“The current Brass is not worried about politicizing the military – that’s something they’ve already done. They are worried about competition.”
“You say this raises concerns about politicization of the military…. Well, I was proud to work in the Army and DOD for 40 years (soldier mostly and a stint as a civilian GS employee) and I can assure you absolutely that the politicization of the military happened a long time ago and that has increased a lot since I retired rather recently. That is no secret, and I think we can all agree on that (Republicans and Democrat). But I think when I was an infantry platoon leader in 1980, that was not the case. We had other problems back then. I could go on….It has become a significant and very serious problem. I hope it gets better now. I was serving during all 8 years of the Obama administration and (privately) agree with very little of anything he did. But as an officer I would not have dared say anything negative about the Commander in Chief. But while I was holding onto my neutrality because of my duty, DOD was being politicized and I watched it in terrified awe.”
“It is high time to purge those who seek to use the Military to push radical leftist ideology at the expense of warfighting readiness, and get back to the warrior culture that wins wars.”
“According to the Authors of this article, DEI mandates placed on the military during the Biden Harris regime are apolitical but getting rid of them is unduly politicizing the military.”
“”But some former officials believe the potential Trump administration is looking to politicize the military.” Oh.. NOW they are concerned?”
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