President Trump has said he will be immediately overturning the “ridiculous” order to make the Navy’s official SEAL ethos and creed statements gender-neutral.
In an effort to appear more inclusive, words such as “brotherhood” and “man” were replaced with gender-neutral terms such as “citizen” and “warrior.”
For instance, the first paragraph of the SEAL ethos was changed from “A common man with uncommon desire to succeed,” to “Common citizens with uncommon desire to succeed.”
Naval Special Warfare spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Stroup confirmed the changes to the ethos and creeds in an emailed statement to American Military News.
“Naval Special Warfare continues to deliberately develop a culture of tactical and ethical excellence that reflects the nation we represent, and that draws upon the talents of the all-volunteer force who meet the standards of qualification as a SEAL or SWCC,” Stroup said.
Stroup said the changes were made to comply with changes in law opening the potential for women to join the elite military units. Although the changes in the law now allow women to serve in Naval Special Warfare, they do not lower entry standards for women.
“To date, no women completed the SEAL or SWCC qualification training pipelines,” Stroup said.
On Thursday, however, President Trump called the move “ridiculous,” vowing to overturn it immediately.
In a post on Twitter, the President said: “I will be overturning this ridiculous order immediately!”
I will be overturning this ridiculous order immediately! https://t.co/sFIX5Y667v
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2020
Multiple news outlets have reported the White House is yet to officially comment on the matter.
