\u201cFor too long, we\u2019ve promoted too many uniform leaders for the wrong reasons \u2013 based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts,\u201d said Hegseth, who fired Gen CQ Brown, an African American, as chair of the joint chiefs of staff in February, and has dispensed with the services of several high-ranking female personnel.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Hegseth boasted of \u201cremov[ing] the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cNo more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions, no more debris.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\u201cFat troops are tiring to look at,\u201d Hegseth said, as he ordered commanders to crack down on a lack of physical fitness. \u201cIt\u2019s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commanders were not excepted from Hegseth\u2019s purge on the overweight. He lamented having to see \u201cfat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon, and leading commands around the country and the world\u201d.<\/p>\n
It breached what he set as the armed forces\u2019 new \u201cgolden rule\u201d, defined as \u201cdo unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child\u2019s unit\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you want him serving with fat or unfit or undertrained troops? Or alongside people who can\u2019t make basic standards? Or in a unit where standards were lowered so certain types of troops could make it in? In a unit where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and war-fighting?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe answer\u2019s not just no, it\u2019s hell no.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\u201cNo more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression,\u201d the clean-shaven war secretary declared. \u201cWe\u2019re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have a military full of Nordic pagans, but unfortunately, we have had leaders who either refuse to call BS and enforce standards or leaders who felt like they were not allowed to enforce standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe era of unprofessional appearance is over,\u201d he declared. \u201cNo more beardos.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those who balk at the requirement for \u201cmale physical standards, clean-shaveness and a professional look, \u201cit\u2019s time for a new position or a new profession\u201d, Hegseth advised. At another point, he suggested that those who insist on sporting a beard to \u201cjoin special forces\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The first of Hegseth\u2019s 10 Department of War directives seemed to make it explicit that he viewed the military as a man\u2019s world. \u201c[E]ach service will ensure that every requirement for every combat [member of service] for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a less-than-encouraging message to female personnel, he did not try to hide that this could have the effect of preventing them from serving.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about preventing women from serving,\u201d he said \u201cWe very much value the impact of female troops. 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf 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. That is not the intent, but it could be the result, so be it \u2026 We\u2019re not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\u201cLeading war fighters toward the goals of high, gender-neutral and uncompromising standards in order to forge a cohesive, formidable and lethal Department of War is not toxic,\u201d he said, complaining that words like \u201cbullying\u201d, \u201chazing\u201d and \u201ctoxic\u201d had been \u201cweaponised and bastardised\u201d and had had the effect of undermining commanders\u2019 authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why today at my direction, we\u2019re undertaking a full review of the department\u2019s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying, and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Any senior military commander who felt at odds with Hegseth\u2019s vision of the military was invited to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies. But if the words I\u2019m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will thank you for your service.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cFor too long, we\u2019ve promoted too many uniform leaders for the wrong reasons \u2013 based on their race,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-464342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115295909692856128","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}