Pentagon memo lets commanders override separation boards and requires transgender troops to appear in birth-sex uniforms
- Date
- Actor
- Department of Defense, Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness
- Agency
- Department of Defense (DOD)
- Type
- Guidance/memo
Summary
A memo dated Oct. 8, 2025 from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to all services changes how separation boards work under the transgender service ban. If a board recommends that a transgender service member be retained, the commander may overturn it. Members must attend boards in uniforms matching sex assigned at birth; if they do not, the board proceeds in their absence and non-compliance can be weighed against them. It generalized an August 2025 Air Force directive to all services.
Status
In effect; the services' later procedures (e.g., ALNAV 011/26 and MARADMIN 539/26) build on it. Navy and Marine boards were reported in Oct. 2026 to still be voting to retain most members reviewed.
As recorded in the data of . Check the sources for anything newer.