Photograph Source: Master Sgt. Alexandre Montes – Public Domain

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is rejecting liberal woke beliefs because he claims they have weakened and misguided our military. He introduced the generals and admirals to the new Department of War, no longer called the Department of Defense, because Trump saw “defense as too politically correct.”

Hegseth said the military became woke because “an entire generation of generals and admirals told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that our diversity is our strength.” He pointed to the “foolish and reckless politicians that forced the military to focus on the wrong things.” Not only was diversity in beliefs, gender, and race no longer a goal, but it was also viewed as a weakness that undermined a combat-ready military.

This was the goal of last month’s emergency gathering of over 700 top generals and admirals from around the world. Such a meeting would normally take months to organize; instead, only a week’s notice was given. No reason was provided, and no agenda was shared beforehand. None was needed. It was a sermon from the mount, not a congregation of equals.

After the invitation was sent out, Trump announced he would speak at the meeting in person, saying, “Isn’t it nice that people are coming from all over the world to meet?” It was much more than that.

Pete Hegseth announced this surprise visit event just eight months after being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense. He secured this position thanks to the one vote from Vice President J.D. Vance to break a tie in the Republican-majority Senate. Half of the senators doubted that he could efficiently and fairly manage the military,

Why did Trump choose Hegseth? Who is this guy?

The mainstream and liberal media usually describe him as a former Fox News commentator and may mention his overseas military experience. All of this is true, but the media sees his selection as “outside the norm,” a label that a prominent New York Times story applied to him.

However, he served in the Army National Guard for twenty years, attained the rank of Major, and participated in combat in Iraq as an infantry platoon leader. Based on that background, he aligns more closely with previous appointments than the nearly three in 10 defense secretaries who have never served in the Armed Forces.

It’s not his military experience that sets him apart from the norm. It’s his agenda of embracing a MAGA-type philosophy that would literally reverse the course of our military culture back to the mid-19th century. Unfortunately, his critics have focused on the trees rather than the forest.

They take offense at his individual comments, but most overlook his underlying ideology that, if it takes hold, will undermine our republic’s democratic liberal principles as they apply to our military.

A reading of the transcript of Hegseth’s speech clearly shows he will make the military adhere to his political correctness.

The Military Must Be Stripped of Woke Believers

Hegseth demanded that the entire command structure be in one room to hear that his job was to determine which leaders “invested in the woke department and therefore incapable of embracing the War Department and executing new lawful orders.” He offered that if you disagreed with him, “you should do the honorable thing and resign. We would thank you for your service.”

Hegseth’s talk could be heard as a sermon to his congregation, telling them that they have lost their way. He said, promoting “too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons, based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts, “we lost our way. We became the woke department. But not anymore.”

Hegseth thanked the Trump administration for removing “the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics.” He considers his orders in line with Trump’s beliefs to be apolitical.

New Physical Standards Have Political Results

Hegseth devoted considerable time to emphasizing that his new War Department would be reintroducing the 1990 military standards for physical fitness tests. They would be ditching the changes made in 2015 that he said had ensured females could qualify and had been manipulated to hit racial quotas as well.

Both practices would end, and advancement would now be based on “merit only” which by default would tend toward an army of white male leadership. Note that 31.2% of active-duty members self-identify with a racial minority group.

Hegseth’s style is much like Trump’s. He speaks in broad, absolute statements without justifying them with data or offering any way forward beyond his own narrow path.

With regard to women in the military, he said his plans were not about preventing women from serving and that he valued them. However, if women cannot meet the high and gender-neutral physical power standards needed to perform in combat, too bad.

It would take resolve from military leaders to make the effort, not to lower standards, but to work with recruits to reach those new standards for all those interested in serving in the armed forces.

He could have made a rational argument that women can serve in the military in many capacities, including combat. He ignored mentioning that Israel’s women make up approximately 20% to 21% of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) lethal combat forces. And that 92% of the IDF’s jobs are open to women, with 23% of all officers being women.

He was also skeptical that Black service officers should be in commanding positions, implying that they were likely not to be as capable as White officers. Does he feel that way for all of the 31% of military members who are minorities?Will he block promotions to any Black or minority who believes diversity and DEI programs have benefited the military?

For example, before being appointed Secretary of Defense, he suggested that Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should be fired for being too woke since he supported DEI programs.

Hegseth suggested in his book, The War on Warriors, that despite Brown’s 130 combat flying hours and 40 years of service, Brown probably would not have become Joint Chiefs chairman if he were not Black. Four weeks after being confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Defense, Brown was fired by Trump via a social post, and Hegseth delivered the papers to Brown.

Forget about filing a complaint against a Military Officer’s behavior

Hegseth conveyed that stringent oversight of how officers treat those below them would no longer be in place. Hegseth proposed that retention of adverse information on personnel records, such as abusing other service members, will not be kept in perpetuity if it is a forgivable, earnest, or minor infraction. Hegseth, as the final decision maker, made it clear he would defend the reputations and careers of certain commanding officers from punishment for their conduct.

In addition, Hegseth is overhauling the inspector general process to not accept frivolous complaints**,** including those that allege violations of equal opportunity and military equal opportunity policies. The military could become a closed society, separate from the legal protections usually accorded even to its members.

Should these changes remain, one can foresee more litigation challenging the government for allowing domestic abuse and blatant discrimination. The accountability of commanding officers to a standard that respected the soldiers they commanded would be suspect in the eyes of those they led.

If an atmosphere of distrust among soldiers or sailors in their unit towards their immediate superiors develops, the military will become less prepared to meet the challenges it faces. This is the exact opposite of what Hegseth intended by adopting practices that have been stopped for this very reason.

The post The Creation of a Non-Woke Military Has Begun appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

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