(NewsNation) — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis unveiled a military policy Tuesday that would revoke a Biden-era executive order on transgender troops and end initiatives aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion.

On the campaign trail in South Carolina, where he became the first GOP candidate to file for the state’s primary, DeSantis said the United States’ “enemies are whetting their appetite.”

“You know why? Because they’re seeing America take its eye off the ball,” DeSantis said. “They’re seeing America pursues other agendas, at the expense of our nation’s security agenda.”

Military “ethos” and commitment to service transcends ethnic, religious or other differences people bring with them, DeSantis said.

“We’re all pulling in the same way,” he added.

DeSantis, during remarks at an event in West Columbia, decried Pentagon policies that pay for military personnel’s hormone therapy and gender-confirming surgeries.

What needs to be focused on instead, DeSantis said, are “mission accomplishments.”

DeSantis, in his proposal, said he would revoke Executive Order 14004.

President Joe Biden signed this order, which overturned his predecessor Donald Trump’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military, in 2021. DeSantis said this causes “issues with readiness” in his plan.

At the time the executive order was signed, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the military works more effectively when “all our fellow citizens” are represented.

“We should avail ourselves of the best possible talent in our population, regardless of gender identity,” Austin said. “We would be rendering ourselves less fit to the task if we excluded from our ranks people who meet our standards and who have the skills and the devotion to serve in uniform.”

Saying that “lethality, readiness and capability” has to trump “political agendas,” DeSantis encouraged eliminating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion initiatives from the military. Instead of “DEI,” the presidential hopeful said, what should be promoted is “merit, fairness and equality.”

Part of his plans if elected are to close the military’s Defense Equity Team and the Defense Advisory Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

In addition, diversity and inclusion administrators for each military department would be gotten rid of, as would military departmental task forces, working groups, advisory boards and other panels focusing on diversity and inclusion.

Another topic touched on by DeSantis in South Carolina was troops who were fired from the military for not following the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. More than 8,4000 were ousted from the military for refusing to obey a lawful order when they refused to get the vaccine. Thousands more sought religious and medical exemptions.

DeSantis called this mandate “one of the biggest mistakes” driving out capable service members.

As president, DeSantis said he would return those soldiers to their jobs with back pay and reinstate them to their prior rank.

In recent years, the military has seen a recruiting shortfall in the tens of thousands. To make up for this, service members have been offered lucrative signing bonuses of up to $100,000 and tuition reimbursement opportunities for service members, spouses and children.

Recently, aiming to get more unqualified Americans in, both the Army and Navy have launched prep courses for hopeful soldiers and sailors who don’t meet the physical or intellectual requirements it takes to become a member of the U.S. military.

Pledging to work hard to rejuvenate recruitment, DeSantis said the high military standards need to be restored, and said it’s not good for them to be watered down due to “social or political” reasons.

This rollout is DeSantis’ second official policy announcement, following his outlining in June of immigration proposals that include ending birthright citizenship.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.