FEBRUARY 6, 2025 – The Department of the Air Force released a memorandum, Feb. 4, on Implementation of Executive Order 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government in compliance with Executive Order Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government and the Secretary of Defense Memorandum, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.
The full memorandum can be read below.
Biological sex is an immutable characteristic. It is not fluid, and it cannot transform. Gender ideology denies this fundamental reality, and places women at risk by allowing biological males to gain access to intimate, single-sex spaces.
President Trump has given us our marching orders in his Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” January 20, 2025. Effective immediately, the Department of Defense will remove all traces of gender ideology.
I direct the DoD Components to do the following:
- Review all programs, contracts, and grants, and take appropriate steps to address any contract requirements that promote or inculcated gender ideology.
- Review all position descriptions and send a notification to all employees whose position description involves inculcating or promoting gender ideology that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the Agency takes steps to close/end all initiatives, offices, and programs that inculcate or promote gender ideology.
- Remove all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology.
- Remove email systems, such as Outlook, and turn off features that prompt users for their pronouns.
- Withdraw any final or pending documents, directives, orders, regulations, materials, forms, communications, statements, and plans that inculcate or promote gender ideology.
- Cancel any trainings that inculcate or promote gender ideology or have done so in the past.
- Disband or cancel any employee resource groups or special emphasis programs that inculcate or promote gender ideology or have done so in the past.
- Review all forms that require entry of an individual’s sex and ensure that all list male or female only, and not gender identity. Remove requests for “gender” and substitute requests for “sex”.
- Ensure that all applicable policies and documents, including forms, use the term “sex” and not “gender”.
- Ensure that intimate spaces for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by biological sex and not gender identity.
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD(P&R)) will formally send a task and oversee the implementation of these actions. DoD Components will provide a list of the actions taken in response to this guidance and their plans to ensure ongoing compliance to OUSD(P&R)) by February 7, 2025.
The rights of the men and women who serve our Nation must be protected as we forge the most lethal force the world has even know.
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs