Professional Military Education
"The U.S. Armed Forces invests heavily in its servicemembers' development. It's called Professional Military Education (PME): the array of schools, institutes, and training programs meant to enhance officers' ability to think critically and lead effectively. Misused, however, PME can be a powerful weapon for indoctrinating future leaders with ideologies that damage morale and force cohesion."
Change starts with replacing civilian professors who've never served in uniform with military professionals. As with the service academies, our objective is to re-warriorize all educational institutions to prioritize winning wars—not diplomacy, statecraft, nation-building, or foreign development, which rightly belong to the U.S. State Department.
America is generous and wise to pour so much into educating its officers. But that investment is only worthwhile if it forges elite warfighters who see honing combat-relevant skills as self-improvement—not racking up useless credentials.
As always, the definition of success here is simple: If it brings us closer to victory, it stays; if not, it's got to go.
Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC)
While the ROTC program is not technically part of the U.S. military's Professional Military Education institutions, it's America's foundational program for developing and commissioning new officers out of college—preparing civilians for their first leadership role as junior officers. As much as 70 percent of all Army officers enter the service through ROTC. That makes it a crucial entry point into the PME pipeline, one in which untested young officers are most vulnerable to woke ideology and career derailment.
ROTC isn't a single program under the Defense Department but is broken down by service. Commissions are offered for all five branches—including the Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Marine Corps (through NROTC)—but are dominated by the Army, which commissions 50–60% of all officers nationwide. As such, the key reforms we've listed below are aimed at the U.S. Army Cadet Command headquartered at Fort Knox, Kentucky, which oversees more than 1,000 Army ROTC units at colleges across America (out of perhaps 1,400 programs service-wide).
America cannot afford to have its ROTC programs transformed into political indoctrination camps for the radical, anti-American Left. The Trump administration must close ROTC programs at leftist colleges run by woke activists—such as those at UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison—and prioritize increasing enrollment in conservative states whose leaders are aligned with America First goals.
Instead of incentivizing more liberal arts graduates, let's incentivize Air Defense and Artillery positions with commission bonuses and restrict eligible ROTC degrees. Under current rules, Army ROTC cadets can major in any accredited field offered by their university. In practice, that means cadets can enter the officer corps with undergraduate degrees in Ethnic Studies, Human Rights, Gender & Women's Studies, Peace & Conflict Studies, and Environmental Studies—none of which will help America win wars. Let's remember that ROTC has one purpose: prepare the next generation of military officers who will fight and win. Any major that doesn't achieve that purpose has got to go. At the same time, let's reward the cadets who bring valuable skills and a warfighter mentality to the service with beefed-up commissioning bonuses.
ROTC Cadet Summer Training (CST) standards keep slipping to accommodate "equity and inclusivity" priorities. Let's get them back on track. Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth has already gone a long way toward restoring rigorous Initial Entry Training fitness standards across the military, so let's port them over to CST. Summer training should be tougher, and standards should be exacting, not modest, pass-fail events.
Ban DEI, CRT, and gender ideology training across all ROTC programs and replace them with mandatory modules on American exceptionalism, constitutional loyalty, and combat ethos. Patriots make the finest warriors, and America deserves the best. But ROTC education must also prize unity and lethality—so gender- or identity-based accommodations in physical fitness standards have got to go, as do transgender servicemen. Last, we must abolish any affirmative action criteria used in scholarships or commissioning. All selections must be based solely on Order of Merit List (OML) scores, emphasizing physical readiness, leadership potential, and academic performance in STEM and other warfighting-relevant academic fields.
Air University
Air University is the U.S. Air Force's professional military education institution, headquartered at Maxwell Air Base in Montgomery, Alabama, near the location of the Wright brothers' first civilian flying school. It was established in 1945 as the Army Air Forces School, then redesignated Air University in 1946, with the objective of training officers for what would become an independent Air Force. Air University offers 23 different programs—among them, the Air War College—for eligible enlisted Airmen, officers, officers from allied nations, and select civilians in the Department of the Air Force.
Air University's Masters programs are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which encourages DEI—but has not mandated it—in university programs. From the association's Diversity Statement:
However, it's worth noting the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is the only accrediting organization in the nation which has declined to mandate DEI requirements.
Under the Biden administration, Air University adopted aggressive DEI programs and policies, many of which have been rolled back under the Trump administration. For example, the university offered a three-day "Leading Inclusively Virtual Experience" course "to help grow inclusive-minded leaders." Students used virtual reality conversations "to engage in difficult diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) conversations." That program was led from 2022 to January 2025 by then-Lt. Col. Lisa Stokey, Division Chief of Leaning In Virtual Experience, whose LinkedIn profile boasts of her "Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI)" and "Diversity Training" skills.
National Defense University
National Defense University (NDU) has encouraged joint higher education for all branches of the U.S. military and national defense community since its creation in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., NDU consists of five colleges and schools: National War College, Joint Forces Staff College, College of International Security Affairs, Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, and College of Information and Cyberspace.
NDU is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which has criticized President Trump's executive order barring wokeness in college accreditation agencies. In 2020, the commission aggressively promoted DEI with a "project to spotlight highly-effective institutional practices that have made a difference in the lives of our students through diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives . . . [to] fulfill our responsibilities of promoting a more just society."
Beginning with the Obama administration, NDU has participated in a UN program to promote "Women, Peace, & Security" (WPS) to ensure "the meaningful participation of women in all decision-making," including "minoritized gender groups (including LGBTQ+)" in alignment with DEI mandates. The Biden-era Air Force, for instance, adopted "Gender Network of Gender Focal Points" and "Gender Advisors" to "employ gender analysis across all functions."
NDU promoted an annual Women, Peace, and Security Writing Award competition that paid winning essays that examined the areas of "Women and Conflict Resolution," "Women's Roles in Conflict Prevention," and "National and International Stakeholders' Respective Roles in Setting and Advancing the WPS Agenda." "NDU will continue to support writing as a means of promoting awareness to WPS issues," according to the program. Dr. Andrew Leith, a professor at the Eisenhower School, was among the WPS Selection Committee members who remains on faculty.
National War College aggressively promoted DEI in its 2023–24 academic catalogue, which included a diversity statement. One of its affinity groups was "Women in National Security," whose goal was "promoting diversity and ensuring a fuller, more inclusive understanding of national security challenges and policymaking." Another affinity group: "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility," established "to discuss enhancing awareness and action in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion."
From the College of Information and Cyberspace academic catalogue: "Equity, diversity, and inclusion are principles fundamental to our productivity and effectiveness."
U.S. Naval War College
The NWC is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education, which "emphasizes diversity goals" for both student admissions and staff hiring.
- 2014A new provost was hired specifically to meet the Obama administration's "commitment to diversity."
- 2015Board of Advisors minutes showed leadership concerned about "ethnic and gender diversity."
- 2017An initiative was established to "explore the question of gender equity at the institution."
- 2022A Chief of Inclusion and Diversity Officer was hired to develop "a comprehensive and strategy equity, diversity and inclusion" program.
- 2023NWC held a conference promoting DEI.
Rear Admiral Darryl Walker, as NWC president, is identified as a key DEI policy driver — he previously served as Diversity Director for Naval Air Forces.
Naval Postgraduate School
NPS is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). Although WSCUC has "put a 'stay' on DEI requirements" to comply with President Trump's executive order on accreditation, that doesn't go far enough—NPS should not seek accreditation from any non-military organization, whatsoever. Period.
In May 2025, NPS president Vice Adm. Ann E. Rondeau (Ret.) finalized an education partnership agreement with CSU Monterey Bay that "directly supports broader university goals around equity, inclusion, and access to opportunity in STEM fields." Rondeau has previously said a "diverse student body" will solve the military's problems.
A number of senior leadership positions are currently held by civilians who have not served in uniform, among them:
While the bulk of NPS' course catalogue is dedicated to warfighting and warrior support, a number should be cut.
Anthropology, Media, and War teaches "implicit forms of ideology . . . in memes"; Politics, Film and Fiction in Latin America emphasizes social science.
Army War College
Like other PMEs, the USAWC curricula is approved, or accredited, by a nongovernmental organization: the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, which has aggressively promoted DEI as part of its criteria for accreditation. In 2018 and 2020, the commission submitted amicus briefs defending race-based college admissions (ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard) arguing, "we too have a voice and responsibility in promoting social justice [and] standing against systemic racism."
Under the Obama, Biden, and first Trump administrations, USAWC promoted DEI studies and research as a national security issue. That changed under the second Trump administration, which cracked down on the practice under Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth and has begun a sitewide content review to maintain compliance with his order. That includes removing inappropriate or subversive books promoting gender ideology and critical race theory from the war college library.
There's a good reason why. The USAWC pressroom promoted articles such as "Toward a Racially Inclusive Military" that accused the Armed Forces and American society of "racialized structural inequalities and related social biases . . . [that] hinder diversity and inclusion efforts necessary to maintain a ready force." Now, at least 50 articles and podcast episodes published by USAWC's online journal, War Room, promoting "unconscious bias," feminism, transgenderism, and other woke topics have been scrubbed from the site.
What did these posts promote? In June 2021, War Room published the transcript from one such podcast episode, "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: The DOD's Role," by USAWC professor Ron Granieri, Col. Rebecca K. Connally, Col. Adisa King, and Lt. Col. Aixa Dones.
USAWC has also published research articles arguing that "deteriorating climate/weather conditions impact U.S. national security and U.S. military missions" and that the U.S. Army is "precariously underprepared" for climate change.
A number of USAWC professors have never served in uniform, while others have promoted woke narratives. Professor of History Ron Granieri, for instance, has retweeted left-leaning Juneteenth tweets and criticized Republican Sen. Josh Hawley on non-military policy. Granieri was also interviewed on television attacking President Trump during the classified documents trial; he previously attacked him during the first Trump administration with thin accusations of racism ("hostility to immigration") and promoting the disproven Russian hacking hoax.
Other senior faculty with no military experience include:
Doug Truax is a West Point graduate, former 4th Infantry Division Army Captain, Ranger, and successful entrepreneur. He is the volunteer, unpaid founder and CEO of Restoration of America (501c4), Restoration PAC (527), and the Foundation for the Restoration of America (501c3).
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