* Defense chief emphasizes ‘warrior ethos’ and grooming standards
* He criticizes overweight military leaders and diversity policies
* Trump executive order renamed Department of Defense to Department of War
>U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed “fat generals” and diversity initiatives that he said led to decades of decay in the military and told a rare gathering of commanders on Tuesday they should resign if they do not support his agenda.
>Joining Hegseth was U.S. President Donald Trump, who gave an on-camera address to the assembled admirals and generals in Quantico, Virginia. Trump recommended using deployments to U.S. cities as “as training grounds for our military.”
>The remarks by Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, and Trump, a former reality television star, had a made-for-TV element to them after top U.S. military officials were summoned on short notice last week to the impromptu event.
>”Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading and we lost our way. We became the ‘Woke Department,'” Hegseth said as he kicked off the event. “But not anymore.”
>Addressing an auditorium full of top brass who flew in from around the world, Hegseth defended his firings of flag officers, including the top U.S. general, who is Black, and the Navy’s top admiral, who is a woman. He said the officers he relieved were part of a broken culture.
>He promised sweeping changes to how the Pentagon handles discrimination complaints and investigates accusations of wrongdoing. He said the current system has top brass walking on “egg shells.”
>”If the words I’m speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” Hegseth said.
>”I know the overwhelming majority of you feel the opposite. These words make your hearts full.”
>Hegseth criticized the look of overweight troops, saying: “It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”
>He said all fitness tests would be set to male benchmarks only and emphasized the importance of grooming standards.
>”The era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos,” Hegseth told the audience, which sat in silence.
>Democrats broadly condemned the event, which they said sought to drive partisan politics deep into the U.S. military.
>”It signals that partisan loyalty matters more than capability, judgment, or service to the Constitution, undermining the principle of a professional, nonpartisan military,” said Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate’s armed services committee.
!ping Military
ixvst01 on
I’ve got some bad news about the commander and chief then…
hypsignathus on
Churchill would never.
OSC15 on
Again, I’m gonna ask: why couldn’t this have been something quietly sent out via memos?
sleepyrivertroll on
I am reminded by a conversation between Canderous and Carth in KOTOR about the distinction between warriors and soldiers. One revels in battle while the other is there out of duty, usually to protect people from warriors.
BelmontIncident on
Bold words from the guy who claims to be doing Henry Knox’s old job.
SneakyFire23 on
I think some of the most fascinating things are what weren’t included in the Reuters article, he’s also talking about “not letting mistakes follow you forever” and sealing away misconduct reports under certain circumstances (he didn’t elaborate what those were)
But given the nightmare the Navy had with something like Fat Leonard, that’s one of the most worrying comments that could impact the officer cadre.
Apple_Kappa on
Pete confirmed Red Scare girlie
In all seriousness, Pete reminds me of those drunken right-wing suburban dads who would go on political rants about how everything sucks and how they would change everything and have their friends tell them that if they ran for president, they’d vote for him.
coolguysteve21 on
Optimist in me says that this definitely was an abject failure and at worst leaves these top military officers leaving with their eyes rolled so far back in my head they are looking at pitch black, and best case scenario we got some fire lit under military leaders who will actually stand up to these dork ah losers.
Pessimist in me says we are cooked and US democracy is falling apart and the people doing it are the biggest insecure dorks on the planet.
CinnamonMoney on
lbrtrl on
This is literally superficial
Butwhy113511 on
Says the guy who fucking added the wrong guy to a strike plan chat lol. I can’t believe how many military guys worship these dopes.
AniNgAnnoys on
There is a post on normie Reddit saying his speech got ZERO applause. Here is a link to it:
14 Comments
[deleted]
* Defense chief emphasizes ‘warrior ethos’ and grooming standards
* He criticizes overweight military leaders and diversity policies
* Trump executive order renamed Department of Defense to Department of War
>U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed “fat generals” and diversity initiatives that he said led to decades of decay in the military and told a rare gathering of commanders on Tuesday they should resign if they do not support his agenda.
>Joining Hegseth was U.S. President Donald Trump, who gave an on-camera address to the assembled admirals and generals in Quantico, Virginia. Trump recommended using deployments to U.S. cities as “as training grounds for our military.”
>The remarks by Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, and Trump, a former reality television star, had a made-for-TV element to them after top U.S. military officials were summoned on short notice last week to the impromptu event.
>”Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading and we lost our way. We became the ‘Woke Department,'” Hegseth said as he kicked off the event. “But not anymore.”
>Addressing an auditorium full of top brass who flew in from around the world, Hegseth defended his firings of flag officers, including the top U.S. general, who is Black, and the Navy’s top admiral, who is a woman. He said the officers he relieved were part of a broken culture.
>He promised sweeping changes to how the Pentagon handles discrimination complaints and investigates accusations of wrongdoing. He said the current system has top brass walking on “egg shells.”
>”If the words I’m speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” Hegseth said.
>”I know the overwhelming majority of you feel the opposite. These words make your hearts full.”
>Hegseth criticized the look of overweight troops, saying: “It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”
>He said all fitness tests would be set to male benchmarks only and emphasized the importance of grooming standards.
>”The era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos,” Hegseth told the audience, which sat in silence.
>Democrats broadly condemned the event, which they said sought to drive partisan politics deep into the U.S. military.
>”It signals that partisan loyalty matters more than capability, judgment, or service to the Constitution, undermining the principle of a professional, nonpartisan military,” said Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate’s armed services committee.
!ping Military
I’ve got some bad news about the commander and chief then…
Churchill would never.
Again, I’m gonna ask: why couldn’t this have been something quietly sent out via memos?
I am reminded by a conversation between Canderous and Carth in KOTOR about the distinction between warriors and soldiers. One revels in battle while the other is there out of duty, usually to protect people from warriors.
Bold words from the guy who claims to be doing Henry Knox’s old job.
I think some of the most fascinating things are what weren’t included in the Reuters article, he’s also talking about “not letting mistakes follow you forever” and sealing away misconduct reports under certain circumstances (he didn’t elaborate what those were)
But given the nightmare the Navy had with something like Fat Leonard, that’s one of the most worrying comments that could impact the officer cadre.
Pete confirmed Red Scare girlie
In all seriousness, Pete reminds me of those drunken right-wing suburban dads who would go on political rants about how everything sucks and how they would change everything and have their friends tell them that if they ran for president, they’d vote for him.
Optimist in me says that this definitely was an abject failure and at worst leaves these top military officers leaving with their eyes rolled so far back in my head they are looking at pitch black, and best case scenario we got some fire lit under military leaders who will actually stand up to these dork ah losers.
Pessimist in me says we are cooked and US democracy is falling apart and the people doing it are the biggest insecure dorks on the planet.
This is literally superficial
Says the guy who fucking added the wrong guy to a strike plan chat lol. I can’t believe how many military guys worship these dopes.
There is a post on normie Reddit saying his speech got ZERO applause. Here is a link to it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/goodnews/comments/1nuhadk/after_hegseth_drones_on_for_40_minutes_in_a/
My question, for anyone that might know, is that normal? Would a speech like this normally get applause or is it standard for there to be silence?