"Content not found." That was the message Friday on the webpage for the Marine Corps' Culture and Inclusion Branch located in Quantico, Virginia.
The branch's page previously featured messages such as "treating each Marine, despite diverse backgrounds, with care and respect are fundamental to cohesion." But it was apparently pulled down this week as part of the military's frantic rush to scrub programs and policies that advocate for women, people from racial minority groups and LGBTQ+ troops.
The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force -- as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs -- were all working this week to comply with President Donald Trump's order Monday to end all federal equality and diversity efforts. But the hurry to eliminate the various programs and policies across the military led to a confusing landscape where seemingly unrelated policies were canceled and it was unclear what programs were still in effect.
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No service had come forward by Friday with a comprehensive list of what programs and policies have been affected by the order.
The military has worked for years to improve the service experience for women and people with minority backgrounds -- and most recently, gay and transgender troops -- as the national recruiting pool and general population have become more diverse. But those efforts became a political lightning rod amid attacks by Republicans claiming such "woke" policies have weakened the military. After being sworn in Monday, Trump carried out a promise to gut the programs across the federal government, including the military.
The service branches' communications to the rank and file and public about Trump's order were mixed. The Army and Marine Corps transmitted public messages that served as official guidance to their troops, while the Navy did not. The Air Force and Space Force also do not appear to have offered official guidance, issuing two memos primarily on their service websites.
Those messages echoed memos sent across all federal agencies: All diversity efforts would be shuttered and recipients should report efforts to disguise or obscure such programs. They warned of potential punishment if the attempts were not reported within 10 days.
They also ordered the removal of websites and documents from public view, as well as the elimination of groups and teams that were working on efforts like improving quality of life for women and minorities.
On Wednesday, the Army's acting civilian leader issued a memo that called for the service to take down all "outward-facing media" that dealt with diversity and inclusion and cancel all related training immediately.
The next day, the Army removed its sexual harassment and assault prevention policy from the website that houses service rules, meaning the policy was unavailable to be referenced by soldiers and commanders. The regulation governs how to properly document incidents and best practices for victim protection. The service's regulation on command policy, which outlines the expectations of commanders, was also taken down.
When Military.com inquired about the removal, several Army officials said that the policies were taken down as part of the Army's scrub of anything that might be "DEI related."
They were restored several hours after the inquiry was made.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, a Navy official told Military.com that, while the sea service was complying with the order, it didn't have much in the way of public-facing materials to remove owing to the last several congressional policy bills that clamped down on diversity programs across the military.
Yet on Friday, a Navy memo was posted to social media from Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore -- the head of the Navy Reserve -- announcing she was canceling six reserve force policies, including those on anti-harassment, fraternization, and safety and occupational health.
The other three included a diversity policy, an equal employment opportunity policy, and a military equal opportunity policy.
When asked about the document, which went out Thursday, the same Navy official confirmed that the memo was real but stressed that the referenced policies were being "updated to ensure compliance with all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president."
The Navy official said the service was not ready to formally say whether any civilian employees were placed on leave as a result of Trump's orders. The Army did not comment in time for publication.
The effect of Trump's order on the Marine Corps also appears to be a series of downed websites that leave questions as to whether those programs are still in effect.
The moves by the service, including the removal of the Culture and Inclusion Branch webpage, seem to contradict assurances from the Marine Corps' top officer that the branch had no programs that would be scaled back by the new administration.
Military.com asked about the status of those who worked in that branch office on Friday. But the service directed the publication to a statement from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which reiterated the effort to comply with the president's executive orders.
Web links to other Marine Corps initiatives, such as the Diversity AIMED program, which sought to recruit "historically underrepresented populations" into the reserves, also seemed to have disappeared on Thursday. The service did not say when asked whether that program had been canceled.
Between 2010 and 2020, diversity for enlisted Marines and officers surged, according to a Marine Corps Times article from 2022, which also cited service officials touting the Diversity AIMED program launched that year. As recently as October, the Marine Corps' recruiting command said that "diversity officer accessions accounted for 35% of all officer accessions" in 2024, though the command described that population as men and women who bring a "diversity of background, culture and skill," a spokesperson said at the time.
Gen. Eric Smith, the service's top military official, rebuffed the idea that the Marine Corps had any diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or DEI -- the term used by the Trump administration -- when asked by reporters at an event last week.
"As far as DEI, the Marine Corps has not had DEI programs," Smith said, citing examples of women who have taken jobs as artillery officers, pilots and astronauts and met the physical and academic standards set out by the service to do so.
"We don't do DEI in the Marine Corps; we never have. We're a meritocracy-based organization. We always have been," he said. "If you want to apply for a [military occupational specialty], strap on your pack, grab your rifle, and make a run at it."
When asked whether the commandant had anything to add to his previous statement or in relation to programs now being shut down by the Marine Corps, a spokesperson told Military.com he did not have any further comments.
The president's order had a more clear and immediate effect on the Air Force and Space Force.
Military.com reported Wednesday that Acting Air Force Secretary Gary Ashworth had issued a memo saying all of the Air Force and Space Force's Barrier Analysis Working Groups -- which fought for more progressive policies for women, LGBTQ+ and minority airmen and Guardians -- were being discontinued immediately.
Many of the social media pages for those groups began to disappear or be renamed shortly after that order was made. Some of the website pages for the Department of the Air Force's diversity efforts were no longer loading on Friday or could not be located online, including details about the Air Force Academy's Diversity and Inclusion minor or Air Combat Command's Organizational Culture Office.
Two memos were posted publicly to the Air Force and Space Force websites: the memo ending the diverse working groups and another asking personnel to "remove all outward-facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices" as well as "withdraw any final or pending documents, directives, orders, materials and equity plans" related to Trump's order.
That memo also ordered the services to cancel any "DEIA-related training and terminate any DEIA-related contract." The scope of training and policies that may be caught in those orders was still unclear.
As the military worked to adhere with mixed results, the Department of Veterans Affairs was one of the more aggressive agencies in not only carrying out Trump's order but also being more transparent than most in communicating its effects.
Acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter issued a memo announcing the department would close all diversity offices and cancel diversity-related contracts.
"These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination," Hunter wrote in the memo.
In addition to deleting websites, the agency also shuttered all offices focused on diversity initiatives and placed 60 employees whose jobs were solely created to support diversity activities on paid administrative leave, according to VA spokeswoman Morgan Ackley.
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