The Associated Press (AP) took aim at the U.S. Defense Department on Thursday as it works to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the military.
The outlet cited a database and anonymous sources when it reported that references to the Enola Gay bomber plane used to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II were among images and online posts in line for deletion.
The outlet further purported that “in some cases, photos seemed to be flagged for removal simply because their file included the word ‘gay,’ including service members with that last name and an image of the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.”
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote in a social media post on Friday:
According to Live Now Fox, some of the images reportedly flagged were done so through error.
“The Pentagon has not clarified if some mistakenly flagged images will be restored, and officials have said that archiving removed content is inconsistent across branches,” the outlet reported Thursday.
The AP has refused to refer to the Gulf of America by its updated official name, which was changed by President Donald Trump, Breitbart News reported February 16. In addition, the outlet sued three Trump administration officials after it received limited access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and some presidential events following its decision not to use the name “Gulf of America.”
In its recent article, the AP also claimed other references to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient and “the first women to pass Marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion as the Defense Department works to purge diversity, equity and inclusion content.”
The AP also alleged the database has more than 26,000 images flagged to be scrubbed, affecting every branch of the U.S. military. The outlet cited an anonymous official who said the number of images and posts may climb to 100,000 due to social media posts and websites.
It is important to note that the Enola Gay, a modified B-29 bomber, was named after the mother of its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets, per History.com.
In early February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went hard against DEI programs in the military by ordering reforms, according to Breitbart News:
He canceled the use of official resources for the celebration of all cultural awareness months, including National African American/Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and National American Indian Heritage Month.
“Our unity and purpose are instrumental to meeting the Department’s warfighting mission. Efforts to divide the force – to put one group ahead of another – erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution,” he said in his official guidance.
On February 26, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell issued a memo to the department ordering official content online that promoted DEI to be deleted, Breitbart News reported.
The memo said in part, “DEI content includes but is not limited to 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.”
