Posted on 06/06/2026 10:34:34 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
WASHINGTON (AP) — After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut nine Navy officers, including all the women, from a promotion list, several female officers say they see the unusual intervention as a sign that their careers now have a ceiling and worry for the future generation of female military leaders.
The Navy had selected 31 sailors to promote from the rank of captain to one-star admiral, but 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 to discuss information not permitted to be released publicly.
As a result, the Navy is not promoting a single woman to the one-star admiral rank this year even though women make up about one-quarter of all Navy officers and nearly one-third of the sea service’s midgrade ranks, according to military data from 2024.
The Associated Press spoke with eight female Navy officers of varying ranks and time in service after Hegseth’s cuts, which were reported earlier by The New York Times, became public. 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, and some said they felt they now had a limit on how far they could be promoted. Some 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.
The Pentagon says promotions are based on merit
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
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I’ll bet the ChiComs have the same problem…. /s
The Pentagon says promotions are based on merit....nuff said.
“The Navy had selected 31 sailors to promote from the rank of captain to one-star admiral, but Hegseth recently intervened to strike nine people from the list, including three women and two Black men”. Maybe they just weren’t very good.
I’ve read a few books and a lot of articles by female officers and they don’t seem very interested in the actual soldiering and war, instead they seem interested in being different by being in a man’s job and are focused on career steps and promotions, as though it is just another job about promotions and recognition and being noticed.
The females talk about sliding through or faking it in training as though it is just guy stuff that is a little silly, a chore they have to get through rather than about combat and actual war.
It is not open to everyone, nor should it be. Leadership is based on talent, knowledge, and ability - not just who thinks that they should be promoted.
The military exists to kill people or to be killed in the process of killing people. It is not a "job".
“...three women and two Black men...”
…”according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not permitted to be released publicly”
There is a leaker in the Pentagon.
Wonder is they’ll be flushed out???
Ditching DEI.
Good. No more girl bosses.
“When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination”
_Thomas Sowell
That’s a keeper.
there certainly seems to have been a disproportionate number of serious “incidents” involving female boat drivers ...
This is exactly how it is. Women see military service as a ‘career’. They do not want to be soldiers, grunting with men who are far superior to them as warriors. Women should not be in combat or combat related positions. That said, there are men out there who fall into the same categories...
Maybe they’ll have to rely on competence.
No comments from the (silent majority) 25 white guys that were cut...?
Oh, I like that. He is one of my favorite people.
There are WAY TOO MANY Admirals and Generals in the Armed Forces. There are far more than there were during the peak of WW II.
Many of the jobs of Flag Officers can be done by O-4 and O-5 officers. Part of the problem is the get promoted or be discharged. New blood is not needed to effectively run the military. In WW II, there were many career O-4s to O-6s that were rapidly promoted because they had tons of experience. If there was an up or out policy before the war, it would have been a disaster.
I don’t care. I don’t care if a woman’s career goals are sidelined. The military doesn’t exist for anyone’s career goals.
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