Donald Trump's move to block diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has led to the US Air Force removing material on the role of black and female pilots during World War Two from its training programmes. A military official said "immediate steps" were taken to remove material to "ensure compliance" with the US president's order, the BBC's US news partner CBS reported. Trainee troops were previously shown footage of pioneering servicemen and women as part of DEI courses during basic military training. Trump signed an executive order banning such programmes in the federal government soon after returning to office, fulfilling a pledge he repeatedly made during the campaign.

The Air Force has removed training courses with videos of its storied Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs — the female World War II pilots who were vital in ferrying warplanes for the military — to comply with the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The videos were shown to Air Force troops as part of DEI courses they took during basic military training. In a statement, the Air Force confirmed the courses with those videos had been removed and said it “will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency and in alignment with national security objectives.”

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell is calling on the U.S. Air Force to reinstate a Tuskegee Airmen history video recently removed from the military instruction curriculum following President Donald Trump’s executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across the federal government. U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, is also sending a letter to the Air Force calling for the Tuskegee Airmen to be recognized in Air Force training. He called the removal of the video as “pathetic, disgraceful and direspectful.” “The Tuskegee Airmen bravely fought and died for our freedom before this nation even granted them full benefits of citizenship,” said U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham. “To strip them from the Air Force curriculum is an outrageous betrayal of our values as Americans. Their heroism is not ‘DEI.’ It is American history. I’m calling on the Air Force to immediately reverse this decision. We will not let our history be erased.”