The Rebirth Of The War Department

kkk

n the all-hands-on-deck meeting called by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth laid out the new changes that will take place on his watch, making it crystal clear that the United States military’s mission is “preparing for war.” If you are going to be a warrior, you must be physically fit and be at the top of your game to fight your enemies or get out.

▶️ 2 Hours 7 Minutes 43 Seconds

There are probably other items of military discussion going on behind the scenes, but Hegseth’s speech was inspirational and left little room for doubt concerning military leadership setting an example for the fighting ranks. President Trump also spoke during the gathering. Hegseth said:

“This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics.”

“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris. As I said before and will say again, we are done with that shit.”

“Fighting, preparing for war, and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit, not because we want war—no one here wants war—but it’s because we love peace,” Hegseth told the officers in attendance as he drove home that “wokeness” is now prohibited in the military.

To that end, Hegseth announced ten new directives to be implemented immediately. That includes the “highest male standard” being put in place for everyone in the Armed Forces… including women. A combat field test will be used, “that must be executable in any environment at any time and with combat equipment.”  If any man or woman can’t cut it, then they will have to leave. It’s a brutal line in the sand, but one that needs to be drawn. The Secretary of War emphasized:

“Each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS, for every designated Combat Arms position, returns to the highest male standard only because this job is life or death. Standards must be met and not just met. At every level, we should seek to exceed the standard, to push the envelope, to compete. It’s common sense and core to who we are and what we do and should be in our DNA.”

✪ No More Fat Enlisted Or Officers

“I’m also directing that war fighters in combat jobs execute their service fitness test at a gender-neutral age norm, male standard, scored above 70%. It all starts with physical fitness and appearance.” Hegseth went on to note, “It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon,” Hegseth said in his remarks. “It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are. So, whether you’re an Airborne Ranger or a chairborne Ranger, a brand new private or a four-star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your PT test.”

“At my direction, every member of the joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year, every year of service. Also, today, at my direction, every warrior across our joint force is required to do PT every duty day. It should be common sense,” he stated.

“Most units do that already, but we’re codified, and we’re not talking like hot yoga and stretching really hard. PT, others, either as a unit or as an individual, at every level, from the Joint Chiefs to everyone in this room to the youngest private leaders, set the standard, and so many of you do this already. Active, Guard, and Reserve,” Hegseth added.

“This also means grooming standards. No more beards, long hair, superficial, individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave up, shave our beards, and adhere to standards.”

✪ Wokeness Is Officially Dead

“We’re undertaking a full review of the department’s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying, and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing. Of course, we can’t do like, nasty bullying and hazing,” Hegseth remarked.

“We’re talking about words like bullying, hazing, and toxic. They’ve been weaponized and bastardized inside our formations, undercutting commanders and NCOs. No more. Setting, achieving, and maintaining high standards is what you all do, and if that makes me toxic, then so be it,” he bluntly stated.

✪ Adherence To Military Standards

“We’re ensuring that every service, every unit, every schoolhouse, and every form of professional military education conducts an immediate review of their standards. Now we’ve done this in many places already, but today it goes across the entire Department of War,” Hegseth informed the leadership as cleaning house becomes a top priority to rid the military of DEI and wokeness.

“Any place where tried and true physical standards were altered, especially since 2015 when combat arms standards were changed to ensure females could qualify, must be returned to their original standard,” he said, finally returning sanity to the ranks.

“Other standards have been manipulated to hit racial quotas as well, which is just as unacceptable. This too must end. Merit only. The President talks about it all the time. Merit-based,” Hegseth declared.

He made it abundantly clear that women were not being excluded from service, “I want to be very clear about this, this is not about preventing women from serving. We very much value the impact of female troops.” Hegseth asserted:

“Our female officers and NCOs are the absolute best in the world, but when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral. If women can make it excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it.”

What he did not say is that many times, having women on the front lines is exceedingly dangerous. Men instinctively protect women. It’s second nature to them. Add to that the fact that if captured, what is done to women is a fate worse than death, and they can also be used as hostages.

“Weak men won’t qualify because we’re not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death,” he commented.

✪ The End Of The Zero Defect Culture

“We are attacking and ending the walking on eggshells and ‘zero defect’ command culture. A risk-averse culture means officers execute not to lose instead of to win. A risk-averse culture means NCOs are not empowered to enforce standards, commanders and NCOs don’t take necessary risks or make tough adjustments for fear of rocking the boat or making mistakes. A blemish-free record is what peacetime leaders covet the most, which is the worst of all incentives,” Hegseth continued.

“You, we, as senior leaders, need to end the poisonous culture of risk aversion and empower our NCOs at all levels to enforce standards. Truth be told, for the most part, we don’t need new standards. We just need to re-establish a culture where enforcing standards is possible. And that’s why today, at my direction, I’m issuing new policies that will overhaul the IG, EO, and MEO processes. I call it the ‘no more walking on eggshells’ policy. We are liberating commanders and NCOs,” he advised.

“We are liberating you. We are overhauling an Inspector General process, the IG, that has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues, and poor performers in the driver’s seat. We’re doing the same with the Equal Opportunity and Military Equal Opportunity policies, the EO and MEO at our department. No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complainants, no more smearing reputations, no more endless waiting, no more legal limbo. No more side-tracking careers, no more walking on eggshells,” Hegseth vowed.

✪ Promotion Based On Merit

“We’re making changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity. People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career. Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes, and that’s not the business we’re in. We need risk takers and aggressive leaders and a culture that supports you,” Hegseth informed his leaders. He forewarned.

“Fourth, at the War Department, promotions across the joint force will be based on one thing: merit. Colorblind, gender neutral, merit-based. The entire promotion process, including evaluations of war-fighting capabilities, is being thoroughly re-examined. We’ve already done a lot in this area, but more changes are coming soon.”

“We’ll promote top-performing officers and NCOs faster and get rid of poor performers more quickly. Evaluations, education, and field exercises will become real evaluations, not box checks for every one of us at every level,” Hegseth said.

✪ The End Of Excessive Mandatory Training

“We are drastically reducing the ridiculous amount of mandatory training that individuals and units must execute. We’ve already ended the most egregious, now we’re giving you back real time, less PowerPoint briefings and fewer online courses, more time in the motor pool, and more time on the range,” Hegseth clarified. “Our job is to make sure you have the money, equipment, weapons, and parts to train and maintain, and then you take it from there.”

“You all know this because it’s common sense, the tougher and the higher the standards in our units, the higher the retention rates in those units. Warriors want to be challenged. Troops want to be tested,” he pointed out.

“When you don’t train and you don’t maintain, you tend to moralize, and that’s when our best people decide to take their talents to the civilian world. The leaders who created the woke department have already driven out too many hard chargers. We reverse that trend right now.”

✪ The Return Of The Warrior & Victory In War Ethos

“Basic training is being restored to what it should be: scary, tough, and disciplined. We’re empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits, ensuring that future war fighters are forged,” Hegseth asserted.

“The United States has not won a major theater war since the name was changed to the Department of Defense in 1947,” Hegseth pointed out, excluding the Gulf War.

“The men who led this department during the Gulf War were mostly combat veterans of the Vietnam War,” he recalled, stating that they were not on board with nation-building and mission creep.

He branded the reformation of the military today “the liberation of America’s warriors. In name, in deed, and in authority, you kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily belong always in polite society.” ” he concluded:

“We are not an army of one. We are a joint force of millions of selfless Americans. We are warriors. We are purpose-built, not for fair weather, blue skies or calm seas. We were built to load up in the back of helicopters, five times for zodiacs in the dead of night, in fair weather or foul, to go to dangerous places to find those who would do our nation harm and deliver justice on behalf of the American people in close and brutal combat, if necessary. You are different. We fight not because we hate what’s in front of us. We fight because we love what’s behind us.”

The implementation of the things that Hegseth covered is indeed the restoration of a warrior ethos and the rebirth of the greatest military on the globe. A fighting force meant to take on communists, dictators, thugs, and criminals and win. It is also meant as a message to our enemies.

Si vis pacem, para bellum: “If you want peace, prepare for war.” ✪