Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon has taken numerous measures to improve quality of life for the rank and file of the armed services.
Hegseth has led a slew of overhauls addressing quality of life for service members and their families, including decreasing cumbersome moves for military families, expanding homeschooling options and bumping hazard pay for thousands of Army paratroopers. Hailing from the Army National Guard, the Secretary has long emphasized his mission to put more emphasis on the regular “warfighter” in defense policy.
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“Prioritizing the troops, over woke and weaponized social engineering by Secretaries and senior officers more concerned about their own political jockeying for rank and status, is a welcome change in the [Department of Defense] under Hegseth’s leadership and is likely a big part of the reason we are seeing an increase in recruitment,” Wade Miller, Marine Corps Veteran and senior advisor at the Center for Renewing America, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Hegseth directed the Pentagon to conduct a sweeping review of the current policy on homeschooling for military families to assess the “feasibility” of enacting new policies to support homeschooling, according to the memo released Tuesday.
Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools have developed a reputation, particularly under former President Joe Biden’s administration, for imposing left-wing initiatives such as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) on students while lacking resources to properly teach.
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“The stay-at-home mom who wanted to homeschool did not have nearly the amount of resources dedicated to her as a mom who, say, worked on base and wanted to send her kids to daycare,” William Thibeau, former Army Ranger and director of The American Military Project at the Claremont Institute, told the DCNF. “And I think what Secretary Hegseth was starting to realize is that there’s more that the military can do to support families who want to make traditional choices.”
DoDEA education, while ranking well above regular public schools in testing scores, still provides substandard education for some kids, particularly those with special needs, a DCNF investigation into the Bahrain DoDEA system revealed in 2023.
As of 2023, there were approximately 65,000 students enrolled in DoDEA schools, according to department statistics. Homeschooling is often an attractive option to parents that are concerned about the education content of public schools.
“Defense Secretary Hegseth is sending a clear message that, unlike the Biden administration, which eagerly worked against the well-being of our service members, the Trump administration is taking swift action to ensure that there is a substantial improvement in the quality of life of the brave men and women of the military,” Nicole Kiprilov, executive director at DOD Watch, told the DCNF. “The success of our service members and their families has a direct impact on the success of this country.”
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Additionally, Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness Jay Hurst moved to reduce the amount of moves military families have to make in order to promote more geographic stability.
All military services will have 120 days to provide an implementation plan to reduce permanent changes of station (PCS) budgets by at least 10% by fiscal year 2027 all the way up to 50% by fiscal year 2030, relative to fiscal year 2026 levels, according to a memo issued May 22.
On average, military families move every two to three years, according to the Pentagon. Acting Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Tim Dill told reporters Wednesday that the feedback they get from the service will determine how aggressive the cuts will be.
“So, what we’re directing the departments to do is purely to examine potential reductions in things that will be defined as discretionary,” Dill told reporters Wednesday. “So if they see that as mandatory, permission need, we’re not even asking them to come back with a plan to reduce it.”
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While the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act gave junior enlisted armed services members a 4.5% pay increase, Hegseth bumped the pay for another vital group of soldiers: the paratroopers.
At Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the Defense Secretary announced an increase in hazard pay for actively jumping paratroopers to $200 a month extra, while giving jumpmasters, who train others, an additional $150 monthly bonus on top.
“I cannot thank you enough or express our gratitude enough for what you do,” Hegseth said to scores of soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Regiment at Fort Bragg. “Like those who came before you, you keep showing the world the stuff you’re made of, because we know you are ready for the important work that lies ahead.”
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