In the three weeks since Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth suddenly called the military’s top brass to Quantico for an anti-woke stump speech, his leadership has fallen flat.
His Quantico address has been thoroughly scrutinized in the weeks since he spoke to American military leaders on Sept. 30. However, a new Washington Times report suggests the military isn’t going to play along.
A number of anonymous currently serving officers spoke with the Times and described Hegseth as an embarrassing micromanager whose speech was “a massive waste of time.” One said, “If he ever had us, he lost us” and lamented that Hegeseth’s decisions could weaken the military overall, and that making their changes in such a public announcement was showy and undignified.
These comments were further echoed by former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who spoke Wednesday for an Axios event, saying Hegseth’s speech was a “waste of time.”
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addresses senior military officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Tuesday told a rare gathering of top brass called back from bases around the world that the US military will be reformed to end what he called “decades of decay.” Speaking to hundreds of generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth declared an end to “ideological garbage,” giving concerns over climate change, bullying, “toxic” leaders, and promotions based on race or gender as examples. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The fuller picture
Hegseth’s 45-minute speech outlined his vision for refocusing American militarism through a “peace through strength” approach. In practice, this was a stump speech about DEI hiring, increasing strictness for fitness and performance standards, rolling back rules against “toxic” leaders, and justified mass firings of military leaders.
Throughout the speech, he condemned the poor state of the American soldier and the lack of a “warrior ethos” that had overtaken the military, frequently accusing soldiers of being unkept, unshaved and fat. He lamented a culture of laxness and poor preparedness upheld by progressive diversity standards, freely admitting his proposed changes may drum many thousands of women and men out of their current positions.
Among his changes, he demands soldiers pass two annual fitness exams, mandatory daily physical training, maintain gender-neutral standards and shave their beards. He wants to roll back standards against what he called “toxic leadership,” offering leniency for minor infractions among leaders, and cutting back mandatory training in classrooms.
“The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things,” he said. “In many ways, this speech is about fixing decades of decay, some of it obvious, some of it hidden, or as the chairman has put it, we are clearing out the debris, removing the distractions, clearing the way for leaders to be leaders. You might say we’re ending the war on warriors. I heard someone wrote a book about that.
“This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics.”
“This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics. No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris. As I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that shit.”
Throughout all this, Hegseth framed his new directives as a liberation “to be an apolitical, hard-charging, no-nonsense constitutional leader that you joined the military to be.” He then told generals who do not agree with his stances they ought to quit. “If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign.”
The remarks were met by a near total silence in the room, with the general military etiquette being for top brass to remain totally silent in the presence of their leaders, not even laughing at Hegseth’s attempts at levity. Subsequently, President Donald Trump commented, “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before.”
Wrapped in religious garb
In addition to attempting to drum up the brass to support Trump’s agenda, Hegseth repeatedly made religious allusions throughout his speech and framed his arguments through Christian ideas. Early in his speech, he framed his statements about performance and merit through a strained rendition of the Golden Rule.
“All precious souls (are) made in the image and likeness of God. Every parent deserves to know that their son or daughter that joins our ranks is joining exactly the kind of unit that a Secretary of War would want his son to join. Think of it as the Golden Rule Test. Jesus said do unto others that which you would have done unto yourself. The new War Department Golden Rule is this, ‘Do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child’s unit.’ Would you want him serving with fat, unfit or undertrained troops? Or alongside people who can’t meet basic standards? Or in a unit where standards were lowered so certain types of troops could make it in? Where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and warfighting? The answer is not just no but hell no! We must restore a ruthless, dispassionate and commonplace application of standards.”
In his closing remarks, Hegseth discussed a prayer he shared with the Pentagon’s regular Christian prayer service called the Commander’s Prayer, which reads, “And most of all Lord, please keep my soldier safe. Lead them, guide them, protect them, watch over them, and as you gave all yourself to me, help me to give all myself for them, Amen.”
“I’ve prayed this prayer many times since I’ve had the privilege of being your secretary and I will continue to pray this prayer for each of you as you command and lead our nation’s finest. Go forth and do good things, hard things. President Trump has your back and so do I. Move out and draw fire, because we are the War Department. Godspeed.”
A junior officer mentality
As the Times points out, Hegseth’s speech wasn’t really for the generals. Their sudden withdrawal to the meeting actually brought about concerns of a larger conflict. His office has been flooded with controversies since well before his narrow confirmation proceedings. There also has been heavy staff turnover in his office.
“Hegseth’s speech wasn’t really for the generals.”
His attempts to micromanage soldiers’ haircuts are not the kind of things senior leadership deals with. Many of the officers told the Times his mentality and leadership reflect an officer well below their stature rather than a seasoned leader.
However, Hegseth’s leadership has seen increased recruitment in the past eight months. Military recruitment hit a 40-year low during the Biden administration but began to spike in the months leading up to the 2024 election. Hegseth and Trump have taken credit for this increased recruitment being an effect of Trump’s election.
The Guardian reports veterans and active duty members of the military have raised internal concerns about the religious politicization of their mission as it is being described by Hegseth, as well as shared fears that the recent surge in recruitment could flood the military with a generation of Christian nationalists.
Hegseth’s speech didn’t need to be for the generals in the room. It was a message for potential recruits at home that this would be the military they would be joining. He just needed to speak past the generals.
Hegseth’s spiritual background
Prior to serving in the Trump administration, Hegseth’s claim to fame was as a Fox and Friends contributor and as author of The War on Warriors. He was deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard. He is public with his conservative Christian faith and famously has several religious-themed tattoos, including the controversial phrase “Deus Vult” on his bicep.
Before moving to D.C., he attended Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship outside Nashville, Tenn., which is affiliated with the Congregation of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a network of Calvinist churches run by the controversial self-avowed Christian nationalist Pastor Doug Wilson. Hegseth publicly shared and praised an interview clip of Wilson’s recent CNN appearance on Aug. 7 and told the Associated Press he “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”
In D.C., Hegseth attends another congregation affiliated with Wilson’s far-right Calvinist theology.
In his capacity as Secretary of War, Hegseth has pushed heavily for Christian imagery in the military as part of active recruiting, with one recent ad proclaiming “We Are One Nation Under God” and displaying the text of Psalm 18:37: “I pursued my enemies and overtook them. I did not turn back till they were destroyed.”
Tyler Hummel is a Wisconsin-based freelance critic and journalist, a member of the Music City Film Critics Association, a regular film and literature contributor at Geeks Under Grace, and was the 2021 College Fix Fellow at Main Street Nashville.
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