Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has closed down a historic group that was created to boost the involvement of women in the military, as part of ongoing anti-DEI pushes within the armed forces.
“The Committee is focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness, while Secretary Hegseth has focused on advancing uniform, sex-neutral standards across the Department,” spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson said Tuesday on X.
Formed in 1951, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, is one of the oldest advisory committees in the department, providing recommendations that have been instrumental in effecting changes to laws and policies for military women.
The group is composed of civilian women and men appointed by the Defense Secretary to provide advice and recommendations on matters related to “the recruitment, retention, employment, integration, well-being, and treatment” of women in the U.S. armed forces.
Since its inception the committee has submitted over 1,100 recommendations for consideration, and as of 2025, approximately 94 percent have been either fully or partially adopted by the Department, according to the DACOWITS website.
The Defense Department was recently rebranded the Department of War under the Trump administration.
Hegseth has previously come under fire for his views and remarks about the inclusion of women in the military.
In a podcast appearance last year, prior to his confirmation to the role by the Senate, Hegseth said the nation’s military “should not have women in combat roles” and that men are “more capable” in those positions.
He had previously told right-wing media personality Ben Shapiro that women are “life-givers, not life-takers.” During his confirmation hearing however, Hegseth said he supported women in the military.
“I respect every single female service member that has put on the uniform past and present,” he said. “My critiques, senator, recently and in the past, and from personal experience, have been instances where I’ve seen standards lowered,” for women to participate in combat.
The Defense Department opened all combat roles to women in 2016.
Women now make up roughly 17 percent of the nation’s active-duty forces and more than 21 percent of the selected reserve, according to the Pentagon. In 2022, as the overall number of service members dropped by 2.7 percent from the previous year, the percentage of women service members had increased.
The shuttering of DACOWITS marks Hegseth’s latest decision to further his crackdown on policies that do not fit with his “warrior ethos” vision for the department.
Back in February Hegseth instructed the U.S. armed forces to reject transgender Americans who want to serve in the military and paused all gender-affirming healthcare for current service members.
It came following an executive order from President Donald Trump which baselessly suggested that gender dysphoria “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle” and is a physical and mental impediment to their military service.
Earlier this month it was also revealed that Hegseth ordered that troops who need an exemption from shaving their facial hair for longer than a year should get kicked out of the service.
While commanders are still able to issue service members exemptions from shaving — a policy that has existed for decades — they will now have to come with a medical treatment plan, Hegseth said in an August 20 memo made public last week.
Troops who still need treatment after a year will be separated from service, the memo said. “The Department must remain vigilant in maintaining the grooming standards which underpin the warrior ethos,” Hegseth wrote.
Most shaving waivers are for troops diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB, a condition in which hair curls back into the skin after shaving and causes irritation. It is a condition that disproportionately affects Black men.
