No more ‘woke’ in the US military: key takeaways from Pete Hegseth’s speech

Pentagon chief railed against diversity and fat-shamed the troops as he directed his generals to fall in line – or quit

Pete Hegseth, secretary of the newly renamed Department of War, made no bones about what he sees as the principal enemy in a keynote speech to military commanders at Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday – wokeness and all its advocates.

“We became ‘the woke department’,” Hegseth said in an address that seemed to designed to be as incendiary as possible. “Not any more. We’re done with that shit.”

The speech came on the back of questions over Hegseth’s authority and fitness for office after potential security breaches, including inadvertently adding a journalist to a group chat discussing highly classified war plans and sharing military operations with family members and his personal lawyer in a separate chat.

The secretary has also announced new media access rules for the Pentagon that require approval before even unclassified information is published. News organizations have pushed back, setting up a battle over press freedom.

Seeking to shift the narrative, the war secretary set his sights on several specific targets.

Here are some main takeaways:

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1. The era of race- and gender-based promotions is over

“For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniform leaders for the wrong reasons – based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts,” 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.

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2. Diversity is not a welcome concept in the military

Hegseth boasted of “remov[ing] the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department”.

He added: “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions, no more debris.”



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3. Looking the part is key – and fat-shaming is in

“Fat troops are tiring to look at,” Hegseth said, as he ordered commanders to crack down on a lack of physical fitness. “It’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops.”

Commanders were not excepted from Hegseth’s purge on the overweight. He lamented having to see “fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon, and leading commands around the country and the world”.

It breached what he set as the armed forces’ new “golden rule”, defined as “do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child’s unit”.

“Would you want him serving with fat or unfit or undertrained troops? Or alongside people who can’t 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?

“The answer’s not just no, it’s hell no.”

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4. Grooming matters and the clean-shaven look is paramount

“No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression,” the clean-shaven war secretary declared. “We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards.”

“We don’t 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.

“The era of unprofessional appearance is over,” he declared. “No more beardos.”

For those who balk at the requirement for “male physical standards, clean-shaveness and a professional look, “it’s time for a new position or a new profession”, Hegseth advised. At another point, he suggested that those who insist on sporting a beard to “join special forces”.

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5. Hegseth’s new model forces may be no place for women

The first of Hegseth’s 10 Department of War directives seemed to make it explicit that he viewed the military as a man’s world. “[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,” he said.

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.

“This is not about preventing women from serving,” he said “We 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.

“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. That is not the intent, but it could be the result, so be it … We’re not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death.”

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6. Concepts of ‘emotionally sensitive’ leadership are out

“Leading 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,” he said, complaining that words like “bullying”, “hazing” and “toxic” had been “weaponised and bastardised” and had had the effect of undermining commanders’ authority.

“That’s why today at my direction, we’re undertaking a full review of the department’s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying, and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing.”

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7. It’s his way or the highway

Any senior military commander who felt at odds with Hegseth’s vision of the military was invited to leave.

“The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies. But if the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” he said. “We will thank you for your service.”