Military

Maya Angelou Memoir, Holocaust Book are Among Those Pulled From Naval Academy Library in DEI Purge

An entrance to the U.S. Naval Academy campus in Annapolis, Maryland.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism, and Maya Angelou's famous autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” were among the nearly 400 volumes removed from the U.S. Naval Academy's library ^[1] this week after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office ordered the school to get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity and inclusion ^[2].

The Navy late Friday provided the list of 381 books ^[3] that have been taken out of its library. The move marks another step in the Trump administration’s far-reaching effort to purge so-called DEI content ^[4] from federal agencies, including policies, programs, online and social media postings and curriculum at schools.

In addition to Angelou's award-winning tome, the list includes “Memorializing the Holocaust,” which deals with Holocaust memorials; “Half American,” about African Americans in World War II; “A Respectable Woman," about the public roles of African American women in 19th century New York; and “Pursuing Trayvon Martin,” about the 2012 shooting of the Black 17-year-old in Florida that raised questions about racial profiling.

Other books clearly deal with subjects that have been stridently targeted by the Trump administration, including gender identity, sexuality and transgender issues ^[5]. A wide array of books on race and gender were targeted, dealing with such topics as African American women poets, entertainers who wore blackface and the treatment of women in Islamic countries.

Also on the list were historical books on racism, the Ku Klux Klan and the treatment of women, gender and race in art and literature.

In a statement, the Navy said officials went through the Nimitz Library catalog, using keyword searches, to identify books that required further review. About 900 books were identified in the search.

“Departmental officials then closely examined the preliminary list to determine which books required removal,” said Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, Navy spokesman. “Nearly 400 books were removed from Nimitz Library to comply with directives outlined in Executive Orders issued by the President.”

The books were removed shortly before Hegseth arrived Tuesday for a visit to the academy, which had already been planned and was not connected to the library purge, officials said.

The Pentagon has said the academies are "fully committed to executing and implementing President Trump’s Executive Orders.”

The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, had not been included in President Donald Trump’s executive order in January ^[6] that banned DEI instruction, programs or curriculum in kindergarten through 12th grade schools that receive federal funding. That is because the academies are colleges.

Pentagon leaders, however, turned their attention to the Naval Academy last week when a media report noted that the school had not removed books promoting DEI.

A U.S. official said the academy was told late last week to conduct the review and removal. It isn’t clear if the order was directed by Hegseth or someone else on his staff.

A West Point official confirmed earlier this week that the school had completed a review of its curriculum and was prepared to review library content if directed by the Army. The Air Force and Naval academies had also done curriculum reviews as had been required.

An Air Force Academy official said the school continually reviews its curriculum, coursework and other materials to ensure it all complies with executive orders and Defense Department policies.

Last week, Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, the Air Force Academy superintendent, told Congress that the school was in the middle of its course review, but there was no mention of books.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss academy policies.

Hegseth has aggressively pushed the department to erase DEI programs and online content, but the campaign has been met with questions from angry lawmakers, local leaders and citizens over the removal of military heroes ^[7] and historic mentions from Defense Department websites and social media pages.

Hegseth Keeps It Candid With Midshipmen During Academy Visit

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed military readiness, warrior ethos and strategic deterrence with midshipmen during his first visit to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he engaged with student leaders and athletic team captains.

Hegseth's Use of Signal to Discuss Houthi Strikes Is Now Under Investigation by Pentagon Watchdog

The Defense Department inspector general's office said Thursday it will review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's use of commercial messaging apps like Signal to discuss sensitive details on planned U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.

The IG's evaluation comes a little over a week after The Atlantic reported that members of President Donald Trump's Cabinet -- including Hegseth, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- were part of a group chat on Signal where they discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The magazine became aware of the discussion after Waltz added its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the chat ^[1]. The revelations that top national security officials in the Trump administration were using the commercial app and not secure communications triggered widespread public criticism and concerns that intercepted messages could have endangered U.S. troops carrying out the strikes.

The inspector general's office said it will look into "recent public reporting on the secretary of defense's use of an unclassified, commercially available messaging application to discuss information pertaining to military actions in Yemen in March 2025," the memo announcing the investigation said ^[3].

The evaluation began after the IG received a bipartisan letter from the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the ranking member.

"The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the secretary of defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business," the memo said. The IG will also "review compliance with classification and records retention requirements."

NPR reported that ^[4] the Pentagon had warned its employees in the days after this incident that Signal was not safe to use even for discussing unclassified information.

In defending themselves from criticism following the news, officials like Hegseth and Waltz have argued that the information they described in the group chat was unclassified.

However, days later, The Atlantic revealed that Hegseth was posting specific times ^[5] that Navy ^[6] jets would be taking off and approaching their targets, as well as when Tomahawk missiles would be launched.

Experts told Military.com that operational details like that are almost always classified ^[7] and that sharing this type of information outside of classified systems is incredibly irresponsible.

"It's an extraordinary departure from how we deal with classified information," Eric Carpenter ^[8], a law professor at the Florida International University College of Law and a former Army ^[9] judge advocate, told Military.com in a phone interview last week.

Carpenter and rank-and-file troops remarked that, if a service member were to do something similar to what Hegseth was caught doing, they would likely face a court-martial ^[10].

Military.com has asked the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whether the acting chairman, Adm. Christopher Grady, or his staff use Signal to discuss national security matters but, after more than a week, they have not provided an answer.

The IG's memo noted that investigators "may revise the objective as the evaluation proceeds."

Mollie Halpern, a spokeswoman for the inspector general's office, told Military.com on Thursday that the resulting report will be "nonpartisan, and it will be thorough."

"And whatever the results of this evaluation are, we will release the unclassified report," she said.

The report will be a very public test of the ability of the inspector general to remain independent of political pressure, given that Trump fired the Senate-confirmed head of the watchdog ^[11], along with about 17 other inspectors general shortly after he was inaugurated in January.

The firings violated a 2022 law that requires that Congress be notified in advance of any removal of an inspector general, but lawmakers have not taken action to enforce the law.

The Defense Department's IG office is currently being headed up by Steven Stebbins, who was the principal deputy inspector general until stepping up into the acting IG position.

Democrats on Thursday took the move as a small victory, and Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who called for the investigation, said he not only welcomed the investigation but that he has "grave concerns about Secretary Hegseth's ability to maintain the trust and confidence of U.S. service members and the commander in chief."

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., also said that he was glad that the inspector general is looking into the matter but noted in a post to social media Thursday ^[12] that "it's clear this administration's use of Signal to discuss sensitive information goes far beyond [the Defense Department]."

Politico reported on Wednesday that Waltz and his team set up at least 20 different Signal group chats ^[13] for various crises around the world that the National Security Council was dealing with.

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Pentagon Hiring Freeze Hits Army, Space Force Base Day Care Centers in Colorado

Day care centers at Peterson Space Force Base ^[1] and Fort Carson ^[2] in Colorado are disenrolling some families and pausing waitlists amid staffing issues, the latest impacts of the Trump administration's hiring freeze throughout the federal government.

Two memos, reviewed by Military.com and confirmed as authentic by base officials, both express issues with ongoing staffing challenges at the Space Force ^[3] base, as well as the Army ^[4] garrison.

"Due to ongoing staffing challenges related to our adherence to current administration guidance and recent impacts from the hiring freeze the Main Child Development Center (CDC) is facing a critical shortage of qualified child care providers," a March 24 memo to families with infants at Peterson's day care center said, also stating that a classroom needed to be closed by April 11.

Similarly, an April 1 memo from Fort Carson said "the recent federal hiring freeze, while lifted, has significantly impacted our ability to hire and onboard qualified personnel," adding that staffing levels "are currently not sufficient to meet the needs of our waitlist." It said the base is pausing enrollment from the militarychildcare.com waiting list as a result.

President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk's push to dramatically reduce the size and spending of the federal government has extended to the Department of Defense, which is aiming to cut 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs.

A Department of Defense memo issued March 18 quickly tried to stop some hemorrhaging by saying certain essential positions were exempt from the hiring freeze, including "child and youth programs staff," as well as "instructors or facility support staff at DoD schools or child care centers."

Jules Hurst III, who is performing the duties of under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in a statement Wednesday that the hiring exemptions were necessary for a wide range of jobs deemed to "support the total lethality" of the military.

"DoD will continue to recruit the great Americans who manufacture artillery shells, repair and refit our warships, maintain our fleets of military vehicles and equipment, teach the sons and daughters of service members, and provide medical care to our warriors and their families," Hurst said in his statement.

But the effects of those hiring freeze exemptions may not be felt for quite some time. As Military.com reported in an extensive investigation ^[6] last year, child development centers are frequently understaffed and lack oversight.

As a result of the staffing challenges, Peterson Space Force Base's looming closure of its infant classroom meant that eight families would have to be disenrolled, the March 24 memo said. It asked for volunteers to transfer to a preschool about 10 miles away from the base, where they can pay the same rates as they would have at the on-base CDC.

If they didn't volunteer, the most recent families with the lowest priority levels were disenrolled, according to the memo.

"Due to ongoing staffing challenges, one of the infant rooms is closing effective April 11 to maintain appropriate child-to-teacher ratios and ensure the children's safety and well-being. We will work directly with the impacted families to ensure continuity of care for their children," a Space Force spokesperson, who spoke anonymously to provide information from multiple sources, told Military.com.

Peterson is home to Space Base Delta 1, as well as U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command Headquarters -- consisting of more than 20,000 family members, service members and civilians, according to Military One Source ^[7].

"We are working through all our hiring freeze exemptions as quickly as possible. The hiring, on-boarding and training process will take time; however, we will work with impacted families to return to the main CDC as quickly as possible," the Space Force spokesperson said.

At Fort Carson, the April 1 memo to families said "our team is working diligently to expedite the hiring process and to get to fully staffed as quickly as possible" but did not point to other resources families could use while they wait for admittance to the child care center.

"While we had to adjust enrolling new children, [we] are working as quickly as possible to alleviate any impacts and bringing on new direct-care staff to ensure we are providing the services and support for our Fort Carson families," said a base official, who spoke to Military.com anonymously to provide information from multiple sources.

The news of the military child care woes in the Colorado Springs area is angering family advocates.

Kayla Corbitt, a military spouse ^[8] and founder of Operation Child Care Project, a nonprofit group that advocates for family care for service members, told Military.com that the changes leaves troops and their loved ones scrambling.

"In the Colorado Springs area, we are seeing official and unofficial lack of access to DoD-operated care," Corbitt told Military.com. "Even at installations where the military are not being asked to leave, they are being told they cannot enroll or attend until staff is onboarded.

Military families will be relying on their community resources and support outside the installation more than ever."

Colorado isn't the only place the child care shortages are being felt. Military.com reported late last month that, due to the hiring freeze and staffing issues, Hill Air Force Base ^[9] in Utah had closed one of its two day care centers ^[10] -- disenrolling 31 families in the process.

"It's time for the states to decide if they are a military supportive community or if they simply have military members in their state," Corbitt added.

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