The U.S. Army War College's website, since at least Wednesday evening, has shown only one page: a notice about ongoing content removal under the Trump administration's new guidelines to scrub mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Under Department of Defense instructions, the notice states vaguely, "certain posts have been removed, are in a process of being removed, or modified to maintain consistency with federal guidance and uphold the integrity of our official communication channels."
This notice, in yellow text over a dark gray background, was also recently posted by the War College's Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) accounts, plus the Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle Barracks Garrison Commander and Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg.
The content scrubbing stems from a Feb. 26 Pentagon memo ordering a "digital content refresh" on military websites and social accounts by March 5. Defense department organizations were ordered "to remove all DoD news and feature articles, photos and videos that promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)."
"A blanket statement should be provided on social media platforms to acknowledge content was removed to align with the president's executive orders and DoD priorities," the memo said.
The memo said DEI content is "information that promotes programs, concepts or materials about critical race theory, gender ideology and preferential treatment or quotas based upon sex, race or ethnicity, or other DEI-related matters with respect to promotion and selection reform, advisory boards, councils and working groups."
Other materials to be removed include that which "is counter to merit-based or color-blind policies" or promotes cultural awareness months.
This guidance does not apply to content required by law to be publicly available or content related to normal operations, the memo says. Examples are base conditions, leadership biographies and information about on-base school and commissary operations.
Brian Fickel, public affairs and legislative liaison with the college, also said that no content related to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School or the disinterment process has been affected by the guidance. The War College does not maintain a DEI office or any DEI-related functions, he said.
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The college's online review comes as President Donald Trump's administration, less than six weeks old, attempts major financial and cultural changes across federal agencies.
In the military, for example, transgender people are no longer allowed to join, and servicemembers who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine may now return.
"We've ended the tyranny of so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies all across the entire federal government. And indeed the private sector and our military," Trump said in his Tuesday night address to Congress. "And our country will be woke no longer."
The college's X account posted its content review notice Wednesday afternoon, and its Facebook page posted it Monday morning.
Fellow military graduate schools posted notices, too, including the Naval War College in Rhode Island, Air University in Alabama, Army University in Kansas, Marine Corps University in Virginia and National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
While the Army War College's main website is down, so too are its subdomains for things like for the Strategic Studies Institute and the college's publishing office for books and research.
It's unclear when the college's website will return to normal, but Fickel said the plan is to restore access soon as the review is complete.
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