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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth started the day with what he described as physical training at the Pentagon, then moved to what critics say is an overhaul of the military’s senior leadership. The changes have removed roughly one in five of the most experienced generals and admirals across the services. While the media has labeled it a purge, I see it as accountability that is long overdue.
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Hegseth has already forced out nearly 20 senior officers, along with the secretaries of the Army and Navy, and blocked several women and minority officers from advancing to higher ranks. Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who served under President Biden, said the effects of Hegseth’s decisions could take a generation to reverse. “We don’t have an excess of generals sitting around with nothing to do, and we don’t have overly inflated positions,” Kendall said. “So what he’s doing is a political stunt, frankly, that is going to have a very negative impact.”
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Hegseth has celebrated his effort to eliminate what he calls “woke culture” from the Pentagon. Under his approach, there would be no diversity quotas, gender pronouns or identity months—only what he describes as a warrior ethos.
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Hegseth’s effort to reshape the military comes as the United States is at war with Iran, considers expanding its presence in Europe and continues military missions in the Caribbean. Kendall argued that the challenges facing the U.S. military demand more than physical conditioning and a warrior ethos. “We’re in an intellectual contest just as much as we are in a physical contest with our adversaries,” he said. “And we need to emphasize that part of what the military does just as much as the physical fitness side.” The debate unfolded as the U.S. military announced the completion of a long-planned troop withdrawal from Iraq, more than two decades after the invasion and at the end of a 12-year campaign against ISIS. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, however, are already portraying the withdrawal as a victory. Tony? Charlie, thank you.
