Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has personally blocked four Army officers from becoming one-star generals. Two are Black and two are women. And the reasons emerging from inside the Pentagon are raising serious questions about what’s actually driving these decisions.
According to The New York Times, based on interviews with 11 current and former military and administration officials, Hegseth struck four names from the list which was being put together after a competitive board process in November 2024. Only about 5 percent of eligible colonels ever make it to general which means that these were already among the best officers in the service.
Pete Hegseth has made his goal clear since he arrived at the Pentagon that he wants to roll back what he calls a “woke” culture that developed during the Biden administration. In his 2024 book ‘The War on Warriors’ he has criticized senior officers who were promoted under former Defense Secretary Lloyd J Austin III by calling them “cowards hiding under stars.”
He also wrote, “The Left captured the military quickly, and we must reclaim it at a faster pace.”
Why were they removed from the army promotion list?
According to The New York Time, one of the officers who is a Black armor officer was flagged because he had written an academic paper almost 15 years ago. In that paper, he studied why African American officers have often chosen support roles instead of frontline combat positions. Even though the paper was just an analysis of a known trend, it was later used against him.
Another officer who is a female logistics officer and had served in Afghanistan during the difficult 2021 withdrawal. Military officials told The New York Times that she did her job well under very tough conditions. However, Hegseth has blamed officers involved in that operation, calling it “disastrous and embarrassing” and saying he wants to hold them responsible no matter how well they individually performed.
The other two officers, one more logistics officer and a finance specialist were also removed from the promotion list. But even senior military officials do not clearly know why they were singled out.
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Is it even legally allowed and what’s at stake?
Under military regulations, the defense secretary’s role is to either accept or reject the entire promotion list. He is not supposed to pick and choose individual names. Removing specific officers, according to senior military officials cited by the Times, falls outside the legal options available to him.
The last time such scrutiny occurred was in 2007 during the Iraq War but even then the approach was very different.
The list is now being reviewed by the White House before going to the Senate for final approval.
The US military promotion system is meant to be fair and non-political. Officers are supposed to be judged on their work and experience by senior leaders without outside influence. This is done so that politics does not decide who becomes a leader.
However, the Pentagon has defended the process. Spokesman Sean Parnell and said in statement that, “military promotions are given to those who have earned them” and that the process is “apolitical and unbiased.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Hegseth for “restoring meritocracy throughout the ranks.”
