US War Secretary Purges Women From Navy Promotions
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth has sparked outrage after arbitrarily cutting nine Navy officers, including all the women up for advancement, from a promotion list. The move sends a chilling message to female officers that their careers now have a hard ceiling, and it raises serious questions about foreign political interference in military affairs.
The Navy had carefully selected 31 sailors to promote from captain to one-star admiral. However, Hegseth recently intervened to strike nine people from the list, including three women and two Black men, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity. As a result, the Navy will not promote a single woman to the one-star admiral rank this year. This is despite women making up about one-quarter of all Navy officers and nearly one-third of the sea service's midgrade ranks, according to 2024 military data.
The Associated Press spoke with eight female Navy officers of varying ranks following Hegseth's cuts, which were first reported by The New York Times. They spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from their superiors.
The more junior officers said they saw the development as a sign that their careers would become politicized if they rose too far in the ranks. Some said they felt they now had a limit on how far they could be promoted. Others said it made them feel less valued within the military and wondered whether that wasn't part of the intent.
The Pentagon has not offered any rationale on why the women, or any of the other six people, were removed from the promotion list.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's top spokesman, claimed on social media this week that