Pete Hegseth warns military must end 'decades of declay'

Pentagon chief and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared Tuesday that the military must be reformed to end "decades of decay," speaking before hundreds of generals and admirals in Quantico, Va.

At a special meeting, with top brass convened from bases around the world, Hegseth declared an end to "ideological garbage," citing concerns about climate change, bullying and "toxic" leadership.

Hegseth also declared the end of the "Department of Defense" era, promoting the name "Department of War" to reflect a more aggressive military posture.

The end of woke leadership

During his nearly hour-long speech, the secretary asserted that the Army has promoted too many leaders for the wrong reasons based on race, gender quotas and "historical firsts."

"The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don't-hurt-anyone's-feelings leadership ends right now at every level," Hegseth said.

Recruitment based on physical endurance

"You might say we are ending the war on warriors," the war secretary emphasized, according to the new terminology adopted by the Trump administration.

That new "warrior ethos," in Hegseth's words, implies that the military will go back to using recruiting and training standards based on male capability in terms of physical endurance.

"I want to be very clear: this is not about preventing women from serving," he insisted. "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," he explained.

"If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is," he added.

Diversity is not strength

Hegseth said the department has been told from previous administrations that "our diversity is our strength," which he called an "insane fallacy."

"They had to put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQ+ statements. They were told females and males are the same thing, or that males who think they’re females is totally normal," he said, adding the vaccine requirements against COVID and the use of electric tanks as misguided policies.