Vandenberg Space Force Base Scrubbing DEI-Related Content from Social Media Accounts
Vandenberg Reviewing and Removing Posts to ‘Align with President’s Executive Orders’ and Department of Defense’s Priorities
President Trump’s anti-DEI sentiment did not spare Santa Barbara County, with Vandenberg Space Force Base issuing a statement on its social media channels that it will be reviewing and removing posts to “align with the President’s executive orders” and the Department of Defense’s (DoD) priorities. A memorandum authored by Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell was issued to all DoD agencies on February 26, ordering them to remove all “news and feature articles, photos, and videos that promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).”
A spokesperson for Vandenberg was clear that this is a mandatory order from very high up the food chain. The directive cites a March 5 deadline to remove all DEI-related content, but “it’s a large, time-consuming task for people with full-time jobs,” the Vandenberg spokesperson said. The memorandum applies to all DoD components, including the U.S. Navy, Army, Marines, and other affiliated entities.
If agencies cannot remove the required content by the deadline, the memorandum orders them to temporarily remove all content posted between January 20, 2021 and January 19, 2025 — when former President Joe Biden was in office — “until the content is fully reviewed and DEI content removed.”
As of Friday afternoon, a search of Vandenberg’s X account yielded one post with the word “diversity” that went up under the Biden administration. The February 2023 post informed the public of Vandenberg’s “Inspiring Change” diversity panel to honor Black History month. Four other posts from Vandenberg’s “Diversity Day,” also appeared in the search from the years 2013, 2014, and 2016.
Vandenberg’s X account does not have any posts containing the words “equity,” “inclusion,” or “DEI.”
Vandenberg will have more information on how many posts were deleted after the March 5 deadline.
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