Hegseth Halts Tenured Civilian Hiring at US Military Academies
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a directive on Tuesday freezing the appointment of civilian staff to tenured positions at the nation's military service academies. The order also requires these institutions to draw up hiring strategies that emphasize what the memo calls "institutional flexibility and faculty contribution to the warfighting mission."
In a one-page memorandum titled "Refocusing the Military Service Academies on Warfighter Education," Hegseth argued that the academies exist chiefly to produce the next generation of officers capable of leading American troops. He said the structural practices that have permitted civilian academic traditions to weaken the focus on combat lethality must be tackled.
The Pentagon chief contended that awarding tenure to civilian instructors frequently results in academic inertia, complacency among faculty, and an institutional failure to respond to new requirements. He further stated that it pushes curricula away from the goal of training warfighters and toward the research interests of tenured academics.
Reports emerged in July that the Pentagon was considering putting an end to civilian tenure at the service academies.
There are five service academies in the United States: West Point in New York, the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, the Air Force Academy in Colorado, the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, and the Merchant Marine Academy in New York. The Coast Guard Academy falls under the Department of Homeland Security, while the Merchant Marine Academy operates under the Maritime Administration within the Department of Transportation.
According to West Point, civilians make up 27 percent of its faculty. The U.S. Naval Academy employs 217 tenured civilian professors and another 67 on the tenure track. The Air Force Academy's admissions "Academic FAQ" page previously indicated that roughly 70 percent of its instructors are military and 30 percent are civilians.
It was not immediately clear whether faculty who already hold tenure would be affected by the order.
The memo forms part of Hegseth's broader effort to reshape the military service academies. Last year, he said his aim was to remove "woke" civilian professors from these institutions and substitute them with military personnel.
During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth said: "We need more uniformed members going back into West Point, the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy as a tour to teach with their wisdom of what they've learned in uniform instead of just more civilian professors that came from the same left-wing, woke universities that they left and then try to push that into service academies."
Earlier this year, Hegseth established a new task force, to be led by Anthony Tata, undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, which would review U.S. war colleges to ensure they are "effective" and concentrated on critical national security matters. Among the schools under assessment are the Army War College, National Defense University, the Naval War College, Marine Corps University, and the Air War College.
"We want military leaders who are critical thinkers that have studied the principles on which our founding fathers established this republic, and that are educated and prepared to win wars," Hegseth said in March.
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