The ex-Fox News host railed against decades of work to diversify the all-volunteer military as he announced initiatives to effectively exclude women from combat roles and relax protections against hazing and bullying of troops

More than 800 of America’s top military leaders sat silent and showed no reaction as ex-Fox News presenter turned Pentagon boss Pete Hegseth told them he was issuing a series of new directives that will make it harder for women to serve in combat and easier for personnel to engage in hazing and bullying without repercussions during an unprecedented gathering of flag-rank officers at a Marine Corps base in Virginia on Tuesday.

The Secretary of War — a title not used by the head of the U.S. military establishment since 1947 but revived by President Donald Trump earlier this month — told the group of admirals, generals, and their senior enlisted advisers he was “ending the war on warriors” and complained that too many of their peers had been put in their roles “for the wrong reasons” including their race and gender.

Standing in front of a large American flag backdrop, he attacked by name several of the leaders’ retired peers, telling them that the department’s “compass heading” was “clear.”

“Out with the Chiarelli, the McKenzies and the Milleys and in with the Stockdales the Schwartzkopfs and the Pattons,” he said, denigrating former Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli, ex-U.S. Central Command commander and Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie Jr, and ex-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and Army General Mark Milley, each of whom has been critical of Trump or his administration.

“The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies,” he added.

Hegseth also groused about efforts to open up combat roles to women and initiatives to “weed out so-called toxic leaders” and blamed “foolish and reckless” politicians for having “set the wrong compass” and causing the Pentagon to lose its way.

Hegseth, an Iraq War veteran who attained the rank of Major in the Army National Guard but became a critic of the Pentagon’s efforts to open up military service to women, racial minorities and LGBT+ persons, said the War Department must “restore a ruthless, dispassionate and common sense application of standards” that are “uniform, gender neutral and high.”

He told the assembled leaders he was issuing a directive to ensure that “every designated Combat Arms” role across all branches “returns to the highest male standard only,” all but reversing a 2015 directive from then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to open all combat roles to women.

“If you do not meet the male level physical standards for combat positions … it’s time for a new position or a new profession,” he said. “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.”

The War Secretary also claimed — without offering evidence — that the Pentagon had lowered standards “to hit racial quotas as well” and said the revised standards he was promulgating are based on what he called the “1990 test,” which compares today’s standards to those in 1990, a time when women were barred from combat roles and LGBT+ persons were banned from serving.

“The 1990s test is simple. What were the military standards in 1990 and if they have changed, tell me why was it a necessary change based on the evolving landscape of combat, or was the change due to a softening, weakening or gender based pursuit of other priorities? 1990s seems to be as good a place to start as any,” he said.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Starting to think the military may be the last hope of true allegiance to the flag.

    Trump needs a war to declare martial law and then undermine elections. He can then claim he’s only doing what Zelenskyy has done.

    Think we also saw this tried in South Korea didn’t we?

      • lennybird@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        In the backdrop of this, does that even remotely matter?

        It only matters insofar as the courts uphold that; and even if they do, Courts have no enforcement arm to ensure adherence.

        This will ultimately rest on how much individual states or these military generals want to unilaterally push back.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        Ukraine’s constitution doesn’t allow elections during war

        Seems like a big flaw in the Constitution, given that the public now has no way to remove leadership that’s running a war this badly.

        • GratefullyGodless@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          Badly? Even Trump, Putin’s good buddy, has said that he believes Ukraine can not just win, but take back all the territory that Russia took. So, how is that running a war “badly”?

        • TheRealKuni@piefed.social
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          11 hours ago

          given that the public now has no way to remove leadership that’s running a war this badly.

          What? David is holding his own against Goliath, but that’s “running a war this badly”?

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            11 hours ago

            David is holding his own against Goliath

            If that’s the case, Zelensky will win in a landslide and be pronounced Kind of Judea.

            • Gork@sopuli.xyz
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              10 hours ago

              He said the other day he doesn’t want to seek another term after the war is over.

              Can’t blame him, I’d want out of it too if I were in his position.

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                10 hours ago

                Netanyahu has made similar remarks.

                But when the war never ends and there’s no election to campaign for, its an easy pledge to hold on to.

            • T00l_shed@lemmy.world
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              10 hours ago

              When your country is being invaded by a colonizer, elections would be, at best near impossible to run free and fairly, at worst a guarantee for interference

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                10 hours ago

                elections would be, at best near impossible to run free and fairly

                Americans ran elections during the US Civil War in 1864. West Germany held elections in the middle of the Berlin Blockade in 1949. Give me a fucking break.

                • T00l_shed@lemmy.world
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                  1864 isn’t recent. Times have changed, it’s easier to target civilians lining up to vote. There wasn’t an active war on in 1949 give me a break

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            11 hours ago

            Moldova just elected an EU-friendly government in a landslide, despite perpetual claims of election interference.

            Poland and Romania also just put up a staunch anti-Russian nationalists.

            The notion that Russia can rig elections in their favor hasn’t born out over the last two years. Anti-Russia candidates are sweeping Eastern Europe.

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                10 hours ago

                Is Moldova at war?

                Does it matter?

                And how did Moldova achieve it?

                They were the incumbent party and they grew their majority by pinning economic decline on the Russian invasion of their neighbor.

                By booting out the obvious traitors.

                The BEP wasn’t booted out. They have the second highest majority of MPs in Parliament.

                A model for America.

                :-/ Do you know anything about Moldovan politics?

                • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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                  6 hours ago

                  Does it matter?

                  It’s the whole point of this thread.

                  Ukraine’s constitution doesn’t allow elections during war

                  But the answer is “not really” because the Ukrainian constitution doesn’t apply to Moldova.

            • T00l_shed@lemmy.world
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              The notion that Russia can rig elections in their favor hasn’t born out over the last two years.

              Doesn’t mean they haven’t been trying

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                Which country should be holding elections, on these terms? It seems like everyone gets to claim a rival state is meddling in their politics.

                  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                    10 hours ago

                    Does that mean nobody should hold elections, ever?

                    The current party in power can just announce “State of Exception!” and stay in power indefinitely?

    • evenglow@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Look at reporting for any coup that has ever happened.

      Take note of how those reports talk about which side has support of the military.

      “The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies,”

    • Zephorah@discuss.online
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      S Korea didn’t have a legislature of men with their mouths suction cupped to the ass of that leader. They knew their duty, and climbed past military through windows and such to make it happen.

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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      Trump can say and do whatever he wants … it really doesn’t matter

      The thing of it is … what will the country and the rest of the US government ALLOW HIM to get away with.

      Trump has no power … only the power that he is allowed to have … and so far, the US government, both political parties and the citizens have been more than willing to allow him to get away with whatever he wants.

      I don’t blame some dumb orange politician … I blame the entire country for their shared collective stupidity.

      • snooggums@piefed.world
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        …as a response to the President advocating for invading US cities to ‘train for war’ and all the other shit that violates the thing they are sworn to protect, the Constitution.

        Also, the more time goes on without any mention of the integrity of the last election while openly advocating for more and more election manipulation and voter disenfranchisement, the more I am convinced that the Republicans directly rigged the 2024 election instead of their regular tactics. It would be yet another thing that Republicans claimed Dems were doing because Republicans were planning or doing it already.

      • lennybird@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        I did not say that. I simply said they may be our last hope of true allegiance to the flag. Military pledges loyalty to the Constitution; not the President.

        • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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          Not trying to put words in your mouth.

          On the other hand, would you be surprised if someone actually said it?