Air Force Sending Teams to Make Sure Bases Are Following Executive Orders

The Department of the Air Force will send small teams to “validate” compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders. The groups will visit nine bases before the end of the month following direction from a Pentagon task force.

Since the beginning of his second term in January, Trump has issued a series of executive orders aimed at eliminating initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion; “gender ideology,” and Critical Race Theory.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth established a “Restoring America’s Fighting Force” task force “to ensure compliance” with Trump’s orders, he wrote in a Jan. 29 memorandum. That task force has directed the military departments to confirm that they are implementing the orders.

The Air Force is sending “validation teams” with fewer than 10 members to visit bases between March 17-28, a department spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. While there, they will review documents, analyze programs, conduct focus groups, audit classes, and interview personnel.

The Air Force has already taken steps to follow those guidelines, such as revoking officer applicant pool goals based on race and gender; disbanding working groups that sought to remove barriers for minority groups; and revising training material.

However, the process has not been without controversy. Some have objected to the removal of media and training curriculum about Air Force trailblazers and argued the working groups were focused on promoting readiness, not diversity and inclusion. Others have suggested service officials have gone too far in acts of “malicious compliance,” or obeying the directive in a way intended to undermine the order’s intent.

Once the teams are finished, the department will continue to conduct “in-depth reviews” to ensure compliance, a release stated.