The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has made the decision to remove the "Duty, Honor, Country" motto from its mission statement.
In a letter sent to students and supporters, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland said the phrase, which was first added to the mission statement in 1998, would be replaced with the words, "Army Values."
"Our responsibility to produce leaders to fight and win our nation's wars requires us to assess ourselves regularly," Gilland wrote in a letter to cadets and supporters on Monday. "Thus, over the past year and a half, working with leaders from across West Point and external stakeholders, we reviewed our vision, mission, and strategy to serve this purpose."
He continued: "As a result of this assessment, we recommended the following mission statement to our senior Army leadership: ‘To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation.’"
The lieutenant general said the new mission statement "binds the Academy to the Army." He clarified that the patriotic phrase would "always" remain the school’s motto.
"Duty, Honor, Country is foundational to the United States Military Academy's culture and will always remain our motto," Gilland wrote. "It defines who we are as an institution and as graduates of West Point. These three hallowed words are the hallmark of the cadet experience and bind the Long Gray Line together across our great history."
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Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and Army Chief of Staff Randy George both approved the change, according to Gilland.
Critics say the change is the U.S. military and West Point’s latest move to push "woke" policies.
"Our updated mission statement focuses on the mission essential tasks of Build, Educate, Train, and Inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character, with the explicit purpose of being committed to the Army Values and Ready for a lifetime of service," Gilland explained.
Despite removing the phrase from the mission statement, Gilland said duty, honor, and country are reflected in the various actions of the Army’s cadets and soldiers, such as "Loyalty, bearing true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers."
"Our absolute focus on developing leaders of character ready to lead our Army's Soldiers on increasingly lethal battlefields remains unchanged," Gilland concluded the letter, signing it: "Go Army! Duty Honor Country!"
Gilland said West Point has changed its mission statement nine times in the last 100 years.
