Pete Hegseth blocked the promotion of four diverse Army officers to the rank of One-Star General ... according to a New York Times report.

NYT -- citing current and former senior military officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity -- reports two of the officers targeted by the Secretary of War are Black, and two are women.

Secretary Hegseth had reportedly been trying to convince military officials -- including Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll -- to remove the officers' names for months ... before ultimately just unilaterally making the decision.

Of the four names struck ... the Times claims one was removed for writing a paper years ago explaining why African American soldiers tended to opt for support jobs instead of frontline combat positions.

One of the other officers served during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan ... though NYT reports current and former military officials believe she "performed her job well" in spite of the difficulties. It's unclear why the other two names were struck.

Sean Parnell -- the Department of War's chief spokesperson -- told the New York Times, "Under Secretary Hegseth, military promotions are given to those who have earned them." He added the process is "apolitical and unbiased." The names on the one-star promotion list are kept confidential until approved by the Senate.

Secretary Hegseth has bashed the military going "woke" in recent years ... renaming the USNS Harvey Milk because the name didn't fall in line with the "warrior ethos." He has said multiple times in the past that he's against women serving in combat roles.