I was a lowly, enlisted Airman in the USAF, holding down the home front during the Cold War so very long ago. That war was still going full tilt, and I served in the Strategic Air Command--the original--at a missile and bomber base. That SAC, unlike the mess that replaced it until it was stood back up, didn’t lose track of nuclear weapons.
Everyone at the bottom of the rank structure understood the mission: everything every one of us did was aimed at ensuring that when our pilots need to fly, they could. For them to fulfill their part in our military’s war fighting mission, all of us needed to very seriously do our parts. For me, that was law enforcement and base security.
We won the Cold War but squandered the peace dividend by hollowing out and wussifying our military as the terror war overtook us. That’s a war we still fight, as we, once again, keep a wary eye on nation-state bad actors like Iran, Russia, China and North Korea. We’ve also been fighting—sort of—and badly losing the drug war.
All that came to a head during Biden’s Handler’s Administration when the left was allowed to go for crazy with our military. Drag queens, trans, climate lunacy, anti-white male racism, DEI and every aspect of wokeness, all anti-American, all hostile to Normal Americans and military discipline and purpose, ruled. Traditional military virtues like duty, honor, country, courage, single-minded purpose and merit were abandoned, even punished, and our military academies became perverse social justice factories.
Then along came Donald Trump—again—and Pete Hegseth, a decorated, warrior veteran as Secretary of Defense and suddenly, Secretary of War. When Hegseth summoned every general admiral and senior NCO for a face-to-face meeting, anti-Americans, civilian and military, had an “uh-oh” moment. He can do that via Zoom. What’s he up to? This is most irregular!
It turns out that meeting, that speech, that restoration of our warrior culture, was as much for the American public and our allies and enemies around the world as it was for the military, perhaps more. As all that brass and all those stripes sat, stone-faced for Hegseth’s 45 minute speech—available here—Hegseth began the revamping of our military’s purpose and culture:
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 we’ll say again, we are done with that s*it.
One can only imagine the sinking feeling a great many perfumed princes in that audience felt at that. And this:
It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the Secretary of War can do regular, hard, PT, so can every member of our joint forces.
Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country in the world. It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are. So whether you’re an Airborne Ranger or a chair born Ranger, a brand new private or a four-star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass the PT test.
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From now on, combat jobs will require the highest standards of fitness and ability. If women can qualify, great. If not, too bad. No more climate change, no more mandatory racist/sexual trainings. Instead, our troops are going to spend their time in the motor pool and on the range. Hegseth touted peace through strength.
Hegseth made it abundantly clear that anyone who wasn’t on board with being a part of a restored military needed to resign or retire, and I suspect the aides of a great many fat, socialist, DEI generals and admirals are filling out retirement paperwork as I write.
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Reviews, military and civilian, are largely positive—no, ecstatic. Active duty and retired military members are delighted. Pilots planning to retire are rethinking their plans. Recruitment was already up, and as a preview of what’s to come, the Marines met their yearly goals early because they’ve always maintained the standards Hegseth is reinstituting elsewhere.
Our enemies, foreign and domestic, civilian and military are horrified and worried. They ought to be.
Now it falls to Hegseth to ensure resistance elements in the military are rooted out and his orders are uniformly implemented. It’s going to be glorious to see.
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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.