DEI Resurfaces in the Marine Corps
By Gary Anderson
January 07, 2026
About this time last year The Commandant of the Marine Corps fervently declared that the Marine Corps had never adopted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). This was a blatant untruth. While he was talking to a group of Pentagon reporters, his staff was desperately trying to scrub their websites of any reference to DEI.
Since marines are not supposed to lie – except to their drill instructors when they ask if recruits love Parris Island – War Secretary Hegseth took him at his word and told the world that the Marine Corps alone of the services had not drunk the DEI Kool-Aid. I can imagine his surprise when the Corps proudly announced that a female non-combat arms non-commissioned officer had been appointed as Sergeant Major of First Battalion, Seventh Marines, one of the proudest battalions in the Corps. Perhaps it flew beneath the secretary's radar. The legendary "Manila" John Basilone, who fell leading 1/7 Marines ashore at Iwo Jima, is likely rolling over in his grave.
"Firsts" of this kind were all too common during the Biden and Obama administrations, but such nonsense was supposed to have been eliminated under Hegseth and Trump. I can think of only three reasons why General Smith would have permitted this to happen, all of which merit his firing.
First is the possibility that he was deliberately giving Secretary Hegseth the middle finger. I don't have high regard for General Smith's intellect or his moral courage – nor do most active and retired marines I know – but I don't think he's stupid enough to deliberately defy the secretary.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2026/01/07/dei_resurfaces_in_the_marine_corps_1157177.html
