War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced several changes to the department’s operations in line with his conception of the “warrior ethos” on Tuesday morning during a speech in front of hundreds of senior military leaders in Quantico, Virginia.
Hegseth, and later President Donald Trump, addressed hundreds of military leaders who flew in from all over the world in what was an unprecedented in-person meeting of senior officials.
They touched on topics they frequently speak about, such as restoring the “warrior ethos,” ending diversity and inclusion programs in the Pentagon, and enforcing merit-based standards across the department.
“The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things in many ways. This speech is about fixing decades of decay, some of it obvious, some of it hidden,” Hegseth said.
Military standards enforced
The secretary announced that the military services would enforce shaving standards, which had been relaxed in recent years, and physical fitness standards. He specifically said physical standards for combat MOS and combat arms positions would return to the “highest male standard only.”
“I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape, or in a combat unit with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons, platform, or task, or under a leader who was the first but not the best. Standards must be uniform, gender neutral, and high,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth, in announcing the new fitness standards for Combat MOS and Combat Arms position, said the policy is not designed to bar women from having those positions, and if they don’t make it “it is what it is,” though he also said “it will also mean that weak men won’t qualify.”
He also criticized service members and leaders who are overweight, saying it’s “completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”
Every service member will now be required to take a physical training test twice a year, he announced, and they will need to meet height and weight requirements.
The secretary announced the department would review its “definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing” to loosen regulations and said such accusations have been “weaponized and bastardized.”
His address largely aligns with his comments and decisions from before and during his tenure as secretary. He touched on diversity initiatives in the Pentagon, transgender ideology, and wokeness — all of which are subjects he has taken steps to end.
“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,” he added. “No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris.”
The secretary urged any senior military leader who was upset at his remarks to “do the honorable thing and resign.”
HEGSETH ORDERS RARE MEETING WITH HUNDREDS OF SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIALS
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine addressed the hundreds of senior leaders who traveled to Virginia ahead of the secretary.
Hundreds of service members were in attendance for the speech, many of whom had to travel from overseas.
Changes at the top
Hegseth indirectly referenced Caine’s predecessor, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, whom he fired in February, and other senior leaders he has fired.
“I have fired a number of senior officers since taking over — the previous chairman, other members of the Joint Chiefs, combatant commanders, and other commanders,” he said. “The rationale for me has been straightforward. It’s nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create or even benefited from that culture.”
Hegseth also fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, then the chief of naval operations; Adm. Linda Fagan, then the Coast Guard commandant; Gen. James Slife, the former vice chief of staff of the Air Force; and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who was the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
“In many ways, it’s not their fault. It’s not your fault. As foolish and reckless as the woke department was, those officers were following elected political leadership. An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that ‘diversity is our strength.’ Of course, we know our unity is our strength. They put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQI+ statements,” Hegseth said. “My job has been to determine which leaders simply did what they must to answer the prerogatives of civilian leadership and which leaders are truly invested in the woke department and therefore incapable of embracing the War Department.”
He also sent a message to possible U.S. adversaries, telling them to “FAFO,” which stands for “f*** around, find out.”
