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West Point decision to cut ‘duty, honor, country’ from mission statement under fire again
EXCLUSIVE: A United States Military Academy mission statement swap from «duty, honor, country» to «Army Values» is coming under fire again — this time by a conservative judicial and government watchdog group who claims the school engaged in a «cover up» scheme when it altered its mission statement in 2024 as part of an effort to advance a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda.
On March 11, 2024, West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland publicly announced that West Point would update its mission and insert the term «Army Values» in lieu of «duty, honor, country.» Even so, Gilland stressed that «duty, honor, country» would remain West Point’s motto as it has been since 1898.
Judicial Watch obtained documents via a Freedom of Information Act request seeking all emails regarding the removal of «duty, honor, country» from the mission statement between officials at West Point.
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Among the documents Judicial Watch obtained is a document from Gilland detailing mission statement talking points for Founders Day speakers that was sent on March 23, 2024. The memo instructs speakers to «AVOID saying ‘removed,’ ‘replaced,’ ‘deleted’—just refer to the ‘updated mission statement and reinforce that the motto remains unchanged.’»
The memo does not explicitly connect the mission statement change to any DEI initiatives.
However, Judicial Watch argues that the talking points document it obtained implies DEI was a factor in the mission statement change because the document also contains an FAQ section that appears to downplay the role of DEI, claiming only five to eight students each year complete West Point’s Diversity and Inclusion Studies minor.
«These records detail how the DEI agenda helped change the mission statement of West Point — and how leadership under the Biden administration tried to cover it up,» Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a Thursday statement to Fox News Digital.
But in the memo outlining mission statement talking points, Gilland urged speakers to push back against the narrative that the mission statement change was done for political purposes.
«EMPHASIZE the actual seven values as some in the audience don’t realize Army Values is a defined term and to counter the social media narrative that the Army Values change for political reasons. AVOID comparing DHC to AV—it’s not either/or,» the mission statement talking points document said.
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The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is a selective institution that prepares students to become officers in the U.S. Army. (iStock)
«AVOID the perception that the External Review Team was political or made the decision. The Academy selected them. They advised. Academy leadership made Decisions,» the document said.
The term «Army Values» keeps «duty» and «honor» within its core set of values, but also includes the following: loyalty, respect, selfless service, integrity and personal courage.
Gilland said in a statement announcing the change that «country» is reflected in the term «loyalty.»
«The Army Values include Duty and Honor, and Country is reflected in Loyalty, bearing truth faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers,» Gilland said in an announcement about the mission statement change.
Gilland also said that «duty, honor, country» is «foundational to the United States Military Academy’s culture and will always remain our motto.»
An Army spokesperson directed Fox News Digital to Gilland’s original announcement where he wrote: «Our absolute focus on developing leaders of character ready to lead our Army’s Soldiers on increasingly lethal battlefields remains unchanged.»
West Point is one of several U.S. military academies that trains students to become military officers.
Meanwhile, West Point’s mission statement has been changed nine times in the past century, and the words «duty, honor, country» didn’t make it into West Point’s mission statement until 1998.
As of March 2024, West Point’s mission statement is: «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.»
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West Point cadets in formation. (U.S. Military Academy)
West Point’s previous mission statement, first adopted in 2005, remained: «To educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army.»
West Point’s superintendent at the time, Lt. Gen. William Lennox, requested the change in 2005 and then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker approved the change.
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Meanwhile, Republicans have pushed to incorporate «duty, honor, country» back into the mission statement. For example, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spearheaded legislation in January to add the words back to the military academy’s mission statement.
«For centuries, the United States Army has set the global standard for military excellence because its leaders embrace a lifetime of selfless service and embody the values of ‘Duty, Honor, Country.’ West Point’s removal of these core values from its mission statement risks eroding the foundation of American military leadership,» Cruz said in a statement in January.
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Russian ‘dark fleet’ tanker believed to be delivering oil to Cuba, detected off US coast amid Trump ban
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A tanker allegedly carrying Russian fuel en route to Cuba is using deceptive «dark fleet» tactics, including signal manipulation and offshore ship-to-ship transfers, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.
According to MarineTraffic, the vessel, called Sea Horse, was located Tuesday on the U.S. East Coast with its signal, noted as «roaming.»
The move comes as the U.S. pressured Cuba’s fuel supplies, disrupting deliveries and targeting third-party countries that provide oil, following new sanctions and the detention of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
On Jan. 29, President Donald Trump also signed an executive order declaring a national emergency with respect to Cuba and authorizing tariffs on imports from countries that sell or supply oil there.
Windward reported that the Russian oil tanker initially broadcast Havana as its destination on Feb. 7, and was «Hong Kong-flagged» before quietly changing tack. Windward said the tanker had an expected arrival in Cuba in early March.
The Gabon-flagged crude oil tanker NS Concord at the Port of Matanzas in Matanzas, Cuba, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. (Yander Zamora/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The vessel altered its Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal to show it would arrive in the «Caribbean Sea» within two weeks — a vague designation the firm said is often used to hide a ship’s final port of call.
The destination was later switched again to Gibraltar for orders, even after the tanker had already transited the strait, a move Windward described as inconsistent with standard commercial routing.
Windward’s analysis also suggests the vessel loaded its cargo through a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer conducted offshore near Cyprus.
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A tanker sailing under the flag of Cuba, arrives at the port of Havana on Feb. 9. (Yamil Lage / AFP via Getty Images)
During the loading process, the tanker’s AIS signal was temporarily switched off — «a tactic of deceptive maritime operations designed to avoid regulatory scrutiny,» Windward said.
Windward data also shows the vessel’s draft increased on Feb. 8, several days after leaving an area used for floating storage and transshipment of Russian middle distillate cargoes originating from Black Sea ports.
The tanker had loitered in that zone for roughly two weeks before departing, Windward said.
«Ship-to-ship transfers outside territorial waters, where port-state oversight is limited, have become a common practice in oil trade to circumvent sanctions and regulatory scrutiny,» Windward noted.
‘IRREGULAR’ ARMED GUARDS ABOARD RUSSIAN SHADOW TANKERS ALARM NORDIC-BALTIC GOVERNMENTS
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in 2024. (Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The company added that AIS manipulation, offshore transfers and ambiguous destination reporting are now standard features of shadow-fleet activity sustaining Russian oil exports despite any U.S. sanctions.
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Cuba is also facing an energy crisis that has worsened in recent weeks after oil shipments from Venezuela, its primary supplier, were halted following U.S. action in early January.
Mexico, another major supplier, also suspended oil shipments, according to The Associated Press.
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Ro Khanna’s State of the Union guest recruited over 20 underage girls for Epstein: ‘Like Heidi Fleiss’
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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is bringing a guest to the State of the Union who, at 16-years-old, started helping introduce Jeffrey Epstein to underage girls in the early 2000s after having been exploited by the disgraced financier herself as a minor.
Haley Robson was pressured by Epstein to recruit six other underage girls to perform sexual acts after meeting him in 2003, according to 2006 police documents. After initially resisting his sexual advances, Epstein told her to find him other girls he could use. Robson told police she was paid $200 for each time she brought a contact to Epstein’s home and told police «I’m like Heidi Fleiss,» referring to the American madam known for operating a prostitution ring in Hollywood.
Robson described her relationship with Epstein as part of a Netflix documentary series on Epstein, acknowledging that it had taken her over two years to escape from under his influence.
«I would recruit girls who were friends. I would casually bring it up, and we would drive together to his house. I would take them to his room and then I’d walk out. Sometimes I would wait by the pool. When the girls would leave, Jeffrey would come out and pay me. I probably recruited 24 girls. Those girls brought other girls too. They were all underage,» Robson told interviewers.
Jeffrey Epstein, left, pictured alongside President Donald Trump at 2025’s State of the Union. (Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images; Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Robson recalled being «destroyed» by guilt for years afterward.
When asked about why he had selected Robson as his guest on Tuesday, Khanna’s office referred Fox News Digital to an online statement.
«Haley Robson was 16 years old when she survived Epstein’s abuse. This campaign to malign her and the other survivors on the night of the State of the Union is shameful. Attack me all you want. Do not attack the survivors,» Khanna said. «I am honored to bring [her] as my guest to Trump’s State of the Union. Their courage moved a nation.»
Robson herself could not be reached for comment.
Top Democrats in Congress are attempting to needle President Donald Trump by bringing Epstein victims as guests to the State of the Union on Tuesday evening, putting pressure on an area of public dissatisfaction and continuing the ways lawmakers have advanced political storylines through the address in years past.
Findings from January indicate that fifty percent of the public are dissatisfied with the way the government has handled the Epstein case, according to polling by SSRS, a political polling group.
Another poll put out by IPSOS, a public opinion research firm, found that 75% of the public believes the government is still hiding secrets from the public about Epstein’s dealings.
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The Department of Justice released a trove of Epstein documents on Dec. 19 following President Trump’s signature on the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Although the Department of Justice has released millions of files on Epstein, Khanna, who helped push Congress to vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, is one of many Democrats who believe there’s more. He believes the DOJ still has unreleased information that could help lawmakers and investigators identify possible Epstein co-conspirators that made his crimes possible.
Epstein, a former financial advisor, died while incarcerated in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking minors, leaving behind questions about who may have participated in his crimes or known about them.
Other high-ranking Democrats who have also demanded accountability will follow Khanna’s strategy, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
«I’m proud to bring Dani Bensky, New Yorker and survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, as my guest to the State of the Union to demand the truth. Dani has turned unimaginable pain into unrelenting advocacy. Survivors deserve justice. Trump must end the cover-up and release the full Epstein files — NOW,» Schumer wrote in a post to X.
Similarly, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, will send an Epstein survivor to the State of the Union in his stead.
«Annie Farmer is a courageous survivor of Epstein’s abuse. I’ve invited Annie to the State of the Union so she can join other survivors and remind the President of his refusal to release all the Epstein files,» Garcia wrote.
Garcia himself will not attend the State of the Union. Instead, he will join a Democrat-led counter event at the Lincoln Memorial.
Using the State of the Union to advance a political storyline isn’t unique to Epstein.
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In 2018, at the height of the MeToo sexual abuse movement, several Democratic lawmakers brought victims of sexual exploitation to put pressure on Trump for past comments he made about his behavior around women and highlight ongoing allegations of misconduct on Capitol Hill.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump stands at the podium during his State of the Union address on January 30, 2018. (Win McNamee/REUTERS)
In the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, Democrats invited officers who had defended the building against protesters, while Republicans invited the innocent family members of those caught in the costly legal crossfire of the fallout.
Although those appearances generated headlines and underscored key political themes, Khanna hopes to continue the public pressure on Epstein will do something more.
He wants prosecutions.
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«Former Prince Andrew PrinceAndrew is being investigated and prosecuted in Britain. In Norway, they are prosecuting a former prime minister. In France, they’re investigating government officials and business leaders,» Khanna said.
«It’s time for the Department of Justice to begin investigations and prosecutions,» he added.
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