Hegseth’s blocks on promotions rankle former military leaders

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s targeted blocks on the promotions of officers in the Navy and Air Force have intensified scrutiny from former military leaders, who call the moves unprecedented and a corrosive abuse of his power. 

A disproportionate number of the nine stalled promotions in the Navy were reportedly women or minorities, coming a few months after Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll feuded over demands to remove certain names from that branch’s promotions list, including some Black and female officers. 

While Hegseth’s allies contended that the Pentagon does not consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor, perceptions of bias have been fueled by the Pentagon chief’s parallel war against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies within the military. 

Several former defense officials also expressed worries about the impact on officers deciding to stay in the military when their career progress is throttled. 

“There seems to be an assumption that if you were a minority or a woman and you were promoted, that it was because of your identity and not because you’re good at what you do,” said Frank Kendall, the former Air Force secretary during the Biden administration. 

“That’s sending a really negative message to everybody who’s not a white male, and I’m afraid this is pervasive right now in our military. I’ve talked to a number of people from those categories, and they are really pretty upset about this, so yes, it is very negative.”

Hegseth blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers, including three who are women and two are Black men, The New York Times reported. On the latest list of 22 prospective one-star admirals, which became public last month, none of them were women. Just a little more than 21 percent of women make up the active-duty Navy, according to Pentagon data. 

“That’s kind of outrageous to think for the size of the Navy,” a recent former senior defense official told The Hill. “What level of meritocracy is even there? What are you able to judge, but how are you judging it? Because there’s got to be at least one qualified somewhere.”

The defense secretary can halt the promotions of officers if they have professional, physical, mental and moral failings that could jeopardize their ability to lead. 

Those considered for the one-star rank promotion are selected by a board of admirals or generals who oversee hundreds of personnel, with only a small portion of those eligible selected, making it an extremely competitive process. Then the list is reviewed by the service........

© The Hill