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.

  • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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    8 hours ago

    Understand that a lot of that is revisionist history along the same lines as “They were evil but they had amazing technology”. It is very much meant to excuse the soldiers and officers and insist everything was just “a few bad apples”.

    But yes. There are definitely war mongers who just want to have some fun and don’t care who they are murdering or ethnically cleansing.

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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      8 hours ago

      That’s what’s terrifying about these generals and military leaders in the US at this rally … you don’t know where their politics lie because they just don’t care. They’ll follow whatever leader as long as they get to keep their job. They could have the next Hitler in power and as long as the general keeps his job, his power and his troops under him, then he really doesn’t care what his government does.

      • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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        8 hours ago

        I mean… it doesn’t matter “where their politics lie” if they are the military arm of a fascist and genocidal government. I don’t really give a shit if Lieutenant Smith is torn up inside when he goes home after ordering people into the gas chamber.

        It is mostly just the call of duty generation who can’t accept that and insist that actually the military are our friends and it was so great that they didn’t shoot people during the BLM protests a few years back… even though they were very clearly standing there to make sure that said protesters “didn’t go too far” and would have stepped in the moment the oppressors were threatened.