Colorado veteran concerned about losing career milestones after DEI executive order
After the Trump administration directed agencies to scrub websites of topics related to diversity equity and inclusion, some veterans are sharing their frustration as it relates to historical events and military firsts.
Shortly after taking office, President Trump signed an executive order "ending radical and wasteful" government DEI programs. The order includes federal agencies, contractors, and programs or organizations who receive federal funding. In late February, the Department of Defense followed those directives and sent out a memo directing, that starting March 5, its organizations should remove anything that promotes DEI from websites and social media platforms. That can include articles, videos and social media posts that mention gender and race, and it has already impacted online records of military firsts and historical events.
Now, one Colorado veteran says she feels betrayed and feels as though her history is being erased.
Alongside a decades-long career in service, which included times in combat, Nicole Malachowski was also the first female to pilot the Thunderbirds. She is now reflecting on her career as she watches many of the records get taken down, including a flight in 2006.
"I'm on the autograph line after I have flown and there was a 12-year-old gal looking up at me, you know, as if I had hung the moon right? And it wasn't about me, it was that in me she saw her dreams could become reality," Malachowski said.
Years later, Malachowski said that girl is now serving as a major and combat aviator in the Air Force.
"It became very clear to me that it means something to see someone who looks like you succeeding," Malachowski said.
But if you look for records of many of those moments now, if you can find the links, Malachowski showed us the trouble you may run into.
"Let's look at this one, A life in flight for the first woman Thunderbirds pilot, the 404 page not found," Malachowski said.
And those broken links follow that DOD memo, scrubbing mentions of diversity equity and inclusion from online platforms. President Trump celebrates the idea, sharing in a previous public event, "We are a country that's based now on merit for success, merit. If you're good at what you do you're going to go places," he said.
But Malachowski worries those places could be limited as a result, explaining, "There was indeed a time in our history when women were not allowed to serve in the military. There was indeed a time in our history when Black Americans were not allowed to serve in our military. And we have to remember that past so that we don't repeat that past," she said.
And this Women's History Month, instead of texts acknowledging the barriers she broke that Malachowski says she typically receives, she's getting apology emails as those acknowledgements are taken down.
"It's bigger than just my story being erased. It's bigger than just my friend's story being erased. It's about censorship, and censorship is not okay, and censorship has no place in America," she said.
The memo did also say that anything taken down from DOD websites and social media platforms must be archived according to current records policies.
Meanwhile, Malachowski is saving any article and video she can find while they're accessible.
