Defense Department halts new tenure appointments for civilian professors at service academies

The Department of Defense issued a directive, signed by Secretary Pete Hegseth, that ends the practice of granting tenure to new civilian professors at the United States Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy. The policy does not affect faculty who already hold tenure, but any future civilian hires will be appointed without the job-security tenure provides. The memo argues that tenure and other academic norms dilute the institutions’ primary mission of preparing warfighters, describing it as a source of “academic stagnation” and curriculum drift.

Civilian faculty, who bring expertise in fields like literature and the humanities, currently comprise roughly half of the Naval Academy’s 600-member faculty and a smaller share at the other academies. Advocates for academic freedom contend that tenure safeguards independent scholarship, especially on contentious topics. The decision follows a broader push by the Pentagon to reshape military education, including new partnerships with religious schools and a revised K-12 curriculum for military families.