Hegseth Announces Video on Tuskegee Airman is Back in Air Force Training Program
“Malicious compliance” disintegrates under the power of a fully operational new media platform.
Shortly after Pete Hegseth was sworn in as Secretary of Defense, news reports indicated that videos would be pulled from US Air Force training programs after President Donald Trump nixed Diversity-Equity-Inclusion in the federal government.
The order puts a stop to DEI programs and initiatives in government organizations, including the Air Force, which has removed a part of their curriculum that discusses the Tuskegee Airmen in order to comply.
The Air Force also removed training courses with videos of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs.
The move was unsettling and unnecessary, given that DEI was removed to protect all people from racism, not to remove any mention of minorities or women in Air Force history.
The move was excoriated on social media for the insipid political stunt that it was.
This is the Air Force indulging in political theatrics.
We’ve seen this “passive aggressive” performative nonsense in Florida where activists claim complying with anti-woke curriculum standards requires them to exclude basic history that everyone knows should be taught.
It’s… https://t.co/bufdQCuSze
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 26, 2025
Everyone following the developments on social media quickly became aware of the term “malicious compliance”.
Feds are responding to Trump's executive orders with malicious compliance
That means doing unnecessary damage in enforcing them and then leaking it to the media
This is going to be the dominant media narrative
— Daniel Greenfield – "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) January 26, 2025
When a US Senator from Alabama became aware of the maneuver, the response escalated.
I have no doubt Secretary Hegseth will correct and get to the bottom of the malicious compliance we’ve seen in recent days. President Trump celebrated and honored the Tuskegee Airmen during his first term, promoting legendary aviator Charles McGee to Brigadier General and pinning…
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) January 26, 2025
The bureaucrats who use this tactic rely on the old media to convey the narrative. Happily for us, the new media and its reporting and analysis focused intensely on this issue.
And, upon refection, the video is returning to its normal position in the training rotation.
The U.S. Air Force said on Sunday it will resume instruction of trainees using a video about the first Black airmen in the U.S. military, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, which has passed review to ensure compliance with President Donald Trump’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, has prohibited DEI throughout the U.S. government and the U.S. military. New Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was sworn in on Friday, has made eliminating DEI from the military a top priority.
Reuters reported on Saturday that the video about the Tuskegee Airmen as well as another about civilian women pilots trained by the U.S. military during World War Two, known as “Women Air Force Service Pilots,” or WASPs, were not being taught in basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland pending a review.
Finally, our new Secretary of Defense made the announcement the video was back in its usual rotation.
This has been immediately reversed. Thank you @SenKatieBritt. https://t.co/bmoJ4obPNL pic.twitter.com/fXCP3lisLN
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) January 27, 2025
You can be sure whoever made the initial decision that these history videos needed to be pulled for assessment will explain the thought process to Hegseth in the near future.
Finally, here is a reminder about the special place in both history and President Trump’s heart held by the Tuskegee Airmen.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first and only Black airmen to fly in World War II, during a time when the U.S. military was segregated and opportunities for Black troops were limited. They were exceptionally skilled pilots, who flew distinctive red-tailed P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang fighters over Europe, becoming known in the process as some of the best bomber escorts in the Army Air Forces. Their combat record was so successful that it helped prompt the newly formed Air Force, and eventually the entire military, to desegregate in the years following World War II.
During his first administration, President Trump promoted one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, Charles McGee, who was 100 at the time, to brigadier general and honored him as a guest during the 2020 State of the Union. Hours earlier, Trump pinned a brigadier general star on McGee’s right shoulder in an Oval Office ceremony. McGee passed away nearly two years later.
“After more than 130 combat missions in World War II, [McGee] came back to a country still struggling for civil rights and went on to serve America in Korea and Vietnam,” Trump said in the 2020 speech. “General McGee, our nation salutes you.”
In conclusion, these stunts might have worked under Trump 1.0. The mainstream media still had power enough to drive and promote narratives.
Welcome to Trump 2.0: “Malicious compliance” disintegrates when exposed to the power of a fully operational new media platform.
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Comments
The left is now the moral equivalent of a drunk driver trying desperately to avoid being arrested. The arguments are shrill and slurred.
Just think: if the D’s hadn’t cheated in 2020 and installed a stupid, immoral and corrupt man with rapidly advancing dementia then this would probably be the beginning of a new D administration instead of Trump 2.0
Now – and quite deservedly – the D’s are now looking to join the Whigs.
This is very true Peter! Had the D’s not been so obsessed with removing Trump by any means possible they could be at the start of a new D administration.
But here we are in 2025 with President Trump for the next 8 years as he’s indicated he’s interested in running again at the end of this term
Which he’s Constitutionally prohibited from doing, but this doesn’t keep Vance from running. There is yet hope for the nation for the next twelve years.
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Well duh, of course he can’t
But the intellectual Pygmies in the media can’t help but be triggered by everything Trump says, even when he’s taking the piss 
Trump pisses? Another trait he shares with Hitler!
For now but a Bill has already been introduced waving that 2 term thing. I for one do not support it but the hysterics from the left over it make me laugh.
Tack on eight years of a Vance presidency (extremely likely, in my opinion, given the current Administration’s robust and energizing pro-U.S. policies and attitudes, combined with the vile Dhimmi-crats’ bench full of incompetent, dim-witted and hapless loser-apparatchiks) to #47’s single term and the end result is a glorious, twelve-year MAGA renaissance/Enlightenment.
Twelve years of a MAGA renaissance would do wonders to reverse/undue/clean up much of the vile Dhimmi-crats’ anti-U.S. moral, cultural and policy rot, instituted over the past fifty years.
Find this person and remove them not only from the chain of command BUT also from the Air Force. There is no place in a team for selfish individuals like this person.
Then when that person is removed, start working down the food chain to ferret out everyone else who thought this was a great idea.
Pete should start today by taking names and kicking butts. The liberal brass who are responsible for the resistance must be made an example of.
Exactly. Hegseth did the right thing in immediately reversing this but whoever did this should be called on the carpet and immediately demoted then banished to Thule. Publicly as a message we are not doing this anymore. The military has no civil service protections and operates on it’s own wavelength. Defy clear orders by trying to be cute and suffer the consequences.
Hegseth should tell the Air Force Chief of Staff that the responsible commanding general needs to be identified and retired by the close of business or he’ll assume that the Chief of Staff is the problem and will retire him at 5PM (1700 in case he doesn’t understand civilian time). Tick tock. If Trump can resolve a trade war in 10 hours, he ought to be able to quash a mutiny just as quickly.
The AF Chief of Staff probably just needs to ask the Chairman of the JCS. He bleeds DEI. I foresee that the Chairman will be gone very soon.
I foresee many “retirements” including the people running the service academies. Anyone who pushed DEI or got promoted by it have a target on their back and after the last 4 years where they were not shy running around yelling about it they have no where to hide.
Those who were maliciously compliant should be suspended. The Trump Administration should not abide any federal employee who wants to torpedo the Administration.
You misspelled ‘fired’,
In the military you are not suspended, you are removed from command and subject to dismissal from service. This isn’t the civilian federal employee’s we are talking about. FAFO is a total thing in the military and can be quite harsh. Ask that DEI Coast Guard hire.
It could be a civilian employee who did this, though. They are rife through DoD.
Now fire the woke c*nts that pulled the stunt.
Any TDS-infected moron who tries to obstruct the administration this time around should get the axe.
Not a surprise that some of the self entitled cohort of Officers and a few SR NCO believe they can act to disregard/disobey the directives of the President with impunity. They’ve been allowed to get away with all.sorts of nonsense and continued to be promoted, largely b/c they leveraged their ethnicity, race, sex, sexual orientation to create a climate of fear in everyone around them. I suspect that they don’t yet realize how different things are under competent leadership which doesn’t give a hoot about their ‘special snowflake status’. Hammer these folks with the UCMJ, which gives broad latitude to do so, then add simultaneous ‘administrative actions’ to focus the pain.
IF it was done maliciously, then certainly. If it was a mistake born of overenthusiasm or misunderstanding Trump’s new standards, then ensure they know what’s acceptable and what’s not.
Too many people seem to smell a rat when it’s too soon to allow decomposition to advance. If this indicates a trend, then follow your nose but not before then. If that invites downvotes, so be it.
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The primary focus of my post is a memo sent out and circulated among ‘Service Academy Women’ on a FB group which lays out a series of steps and methods to use in order to thwart the directives of the Trump Admin. The cohort of Officers and SR NCOs I am aiming at are not simply over enthusiastic in their desire to comply. Instead they are reportedly circulating a strategy for non compliance.
Red state has the details.
I didn’t know that. In that case, I agree with you. Come down on ’em. Hard.
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Oh, yes, somebody put it in writing on social media.
Found it.
https://x.com/TimOnPoint/status/1883651778748842175
“Leave no trace” while posting their game plan on social media. Hahaha!
It’s good to have opposition that’s that stupid.
‘Service Academy Women’ on a FB group which lays out a series of steps and methods to use in order to thwart the directives of the Trump Admin.
_____________________________________________________________________
in other words, the means/steps used to deliberately disobey the lawful orders of the cinc–disgusting
regards the films, the courage / ability of the “red tails” is legendary but even more significant is the film relating the activities of the wasps–had a cousin involved in their efforts–the courage/dedication required to climb in a brand new airplane and fly the ocean is extraordinary–before the development of any serious radar capability–as if their domestic missions weren’t dangerous enough–lord
is a pity the women in the fb group you reference lack even a mote of personal honor / pride in what their predecessors did / achieved for the benefit of our nation
“Overenthusiasm” to what end? Overt racism?
The people in these positions know exactly what was added by DEI and what was always there. This is a stunt and the AF usually doesn’t tolerate such petty stunts. I hope they stick with that zero tolerance policy.
Please. Getting an order to cease DEI crap and cancel teaching Airman about the Tuskegee Airman is not a mistake or misunderstanding. It was clearly intentional. It was the classic passive aggressive reaction to something not liked, follow the exact letter of the order with no deviation to the maximum boundaries then pretend you were just following orders. Anyone who has served knows this game.
I won’t downvote your comment, but anyone misunderstanding Trump’s intent to such a ridiculous conclusion is too stupid to continue serving and ought to be terminated ASAP.
The officer who made that malicious compliance decision needs to be removed and reassigned to Alaska.
Adak, perhaps. Or Shemya?
I would stop with “removed.” No reassignment. This is misconduct.
Arctic weather observation flights out of Thule come to mind since we no longer have DEW stations. There is a way to deal with these passive aggressive soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines. You regiment their lives from 0500 to 2000. Account for every minute of every day and include frequent inspections, Class A Uniform inspection at every morning formation and so on. They will get sick of it very quickly, mess up and then out they go.
0500 Morning Formation with Class A inspection
0545-0700 PT
0730 Formation for hygiene inspection
0735-0800 Morning Chow
0900 Formation for Orders of the Day
0905-0930 Police Call
0935 Formation and Inspection
and continue. Until final Inspection of barracks at 2000 before lights out. If they live off base they still show up for Final Inspection Formation. Then do it again. The only deviation is Sunday for religious services and if you don’t attend church then guess what? You get more fun and games.
You regiment their lives from 0500 to 2000. Account for every minute of every day and include frequent inspections, Class A Uniform inspection at every morning formation and so on.
There is a place this happens: the brig.
Perhaps there is a very clever double game going on here. Among all the film available for viewing during a limited time frame, was this one either appropriate or necessary? I would guess not. But, by showily withdrawing it, in a manner certain to create an uproar, its place as a permanent fixture was assured by the predictable backlash. Conservatives are played again. It isn’t so much malicious compliance as a surreptitious science.
Not at all. The achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen should for ever be remembered and celebrated.
Honouring their achievement in the face of adversity is very different from DEI enforced compliance. In fact, I’d go so far as to say those black flyers would not be welcome by todays self created oppressed victims on the left because those men got off their arses and took things in to their own hands to achieve what they did.
The last thing the left needs is more black men taking responsibility of themselves instead of being self created victims.
Oh, I am sure it’s shown right after the Doolittle Raid film. Next time, pull the other one, mate. It’s got bells on it.
And how do you know THIS video was actually celebrating them as fantastic airmen, and not full of DEI malarkey? They redo these things all the time, and I’m sure there are many videos in the AF curriculum across the service that will have to be pulled that are about good things, but warped by embedded DEI.
I concur with the rest of your statement, but to assume a video ABOUT those airmen wasn’t abused because that actually is a great part of history is a bit… naive or short-sighted.
That is a totally different argument than Mike Hunt was making GW
to b totally honest with you, that’s an argument I really couldn’t give a f88k about 
There were dozens of American outfits operating in the ETO which achieved a greater number of kills and aces. Tuskegee pilots were just okay.
But, more importantly, don’t the rest of us matter? This country is tremendously diverse and, I think, we’re all better off if we stop making Black civil rights and progress the goal of every single administration, every single government agency, every single corporation and so on. Seriously, I don’t think non-Blacks even care about America’s racial history. For example, young Americans, especially Hispanic and Asian Americans, were, seemingly, enraged over the incessant talk of reparations.
Are you stupid or just an ass? Blacks and Women in the service were treated abominably because they were perceived as being less than and held no value. This isn’t about reparations, this is about teaching block headed idiots like you about the past to make sure it’s not repeated.
Sounds like somebody is getting a transfer to Eareckson Air Station
Or they can finally earn that Antarctica Ribbon everyone wants.
Why not Minot?
Everything that the vicious, vile, evil and greasy Dhimmi-crats in DoD, the Deep State, D.C. Swamp and leftist media organs do, is grounded in political vindictiveness, spite and bad faith, and, must be parried as such. Expect more of these stunts, with the gleeful connivance of the wretched Dhimmi-crat media shills/lapdogs/trained seals/stenographers, to shamelessly and dishonestly attempt to paint #47, his Administration and cabinet, and, their policies, in the most negative light, possible.
another about civilian women pilots trained by the U.S. military during World War Two
They were auxiliary pilots, not strictly civilian. They got access to VA benefits a number of decades ago. (I think that happened under Reagan, but I could be wrong.)
which has passed review to ensure compliance
This is where I saw potential actual compliance with Trump’s order as plausible. If those videos had been re-accomplished in recent years to make DEI an integral part of the video, then the whole thing would need to be re-done. But there is plenty of archival footage and documentary evidence that could be used in its stead while the video is re-accomplished (again). It looks like that either was the purpose, or it was turned into the purpose real fast.
Racism’s new camouflage is DEI. The Airmen fought against racism not for “DEI”. The attack on Trump was intentional and coordinated … Classic dirty Dem trick….that’s all they have left.
In the Woodrow Wilson segregated military, the Airmen were only given the opportunity to fight… they went on to EARN their reputation big time. These men faced death ..hardly a comparison can be made today for the current DEI garbage.
Whoever made that decision needs to be fired and Hegseth needs to hold a press conference, announcing that person’s name, showing their photo, and stating they’ve been removed from service. That person needs to be hounded by everyone who sees them as a lesson to all the other assholes that are even considering playing games with this administration.
They should fire the people who do this stuff. Half the bureaucracy is happily trying to delay or stop Trump.
Some commenters above have echoed my thoughts. But I will state them. My primary bona fide for my statement is that I am a retired O-5.
The DoD should find the highest ranking officer that has pushed this insubordination, court martial them very publicly and impose a sentence that involves some time in Leavenworth and being reduced in rank to E-1. Following their time in Leavenworth they should be dishonorably discharged. This just might be General Brown who is the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
All the other officers and NCOs who were actively involved should be court martialed also and dishonorably discharged. There should be some vetting though to determine if any were coerced with threats of judicial punishment if they did not cooperate. If they were so coerced give them a letter of reprimand or admonishment to ensure they were telling the truth as they are under scrutiny for a while after receiving such a letter.
Any government civilian employees who are promoting the insubordination should be fired very publicly.
Am I harsh, yes. This is essentially mutiny and it deserves harsh punishment.
The 332d Fighter group had the best mission records in WWII. They were the preferred bomber escorts’ by the pilots flying the bombers. I was part of the 332d Air Expeditionary Group at Al Jabber for the kick off of OIF. The walls of the buildings celebrated the history of the 332d from the Tuskegee Airmen and all subsequent missions of the 332d.
Who ordered the videos taken down? That person should be fired / court-martialed. Malicious compliance must be crushed.