“Si vis pacem, parabellum.” – Vegetius, 4th Century.
“If you want peace, prepare for war.” Vegetius was making an obvious point: If you bristle with defenses, you will be left alone. Just ask the skunk and the porcupine. The helpless bunny or the famous “sitting duck,” on the other hand, often becomes someone’s dinner.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth understands this, too, and he articulated it with perfect clarity before an assembly of America’s top military brass. The only shame about his statement is that he had to say it at all. Twenty years of leftist leadership at the Pentagon, however, have made it necessary to act affirmatively to end the DEI that is poisoning our military.
The occasion for the speech was the wrap-up of a meeting Hegseth called yesterday, which saw top commanders from around the world assemble at Quantico. Leftists assumed it would be some sort of coup, along the lines of Saddam Hussein’s infamous 1979 purge of rivals at the Ba’ath Party meeting, which was followed by mass executions, and which allowed him to become Iraq’s tyrant.
Conservatives, on the other hand, assumed that this was going to be a meeting during which Hegseth reminded the top military brass that the time for a DEI military obsessed with “white rage,” promoting women based on gender not merit, and fulfilling transgender dreams was over. Instead, the military would be recalibrated to serve its constitutional purpose: defending America against its foreign enemies.
The conservatives were right (of course). Hegseth did, indeed, tell the assembled military leaders that their job is to be lethal, not to be leftist. And with Trump appearing on the agenda, it was clear that this message, although Hegseth delivered it, came directly from the constitutional Commander-in-Chief.
It’s important to understand that this message was delivered to an audience that has a significant cohort of college graduates (i.e., leftist ideologues), Uniparty members (i.e., MAGA haters), and bureaucrats (i.e., cowards). It remains to be seen how they respond to this message. The one thing they cannot claim is that they didn’t understand it.
Here’s the video, followed by transcriptions of what I think are some of the highlights (which are self-explanatory, so I won’t expand on them). It’s enough to say that Hegseth communicated clearly and precisely that the Department of War, while under his control, is dedicated to turning America into a giant porcupine that, while it does not intend to attack, will destroy any enemy foolish enough to attack America. Weapons matter, but, until the scourge of DEI leaves the Pentagon, America is vulnerable:
From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: Warfighting. Preparing for war and preparing to win. Unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit, not because we want war. No one here wants war. But it’s because we love peace. We love peace for our fellow citizens. They deserve peace, and they rightfully expect us to deliver it.
Our number one job, of course, is to be strong so that we can prevent war in the first place. The president talks about it all the time. It’s called peace through strength.
And as history teaches us, the only people who actually deserve peace are those who are willing to wage war to defend it. That’s why pacifism is so naive and dangerous. It ignores human nature, and it ignores human history. Either you protect your people and your sovereignty, or you will be subservient to something or someone.
[snip]
If we’re going to prevent and avoid war, we must prepare now. We are the strength part of peace through strength, and either we’re ready to win or we are not. You see, this urgent moment, of course, requires more troops, more munitions, more drones, more Patriots, more submarines, more B-21 bombers. It requires more innovation, more AI in everything, and ahead of the curve. More cyber effects, more counter UAS, more space, more speed. America is the strongest, but we need to get stronger and quickly. The time is now, and the cause is urgent.
[snip]
...[N]o plan, no program, no reform, no formation will ultimately succeed unless we have the right people and the right culture at the War Department. If I’ve learned one core lesson in my eight months in this job, it’s that personnel is policy. Personnel is policy. The best way to take care of troops is to give them good leaders committed to the warfighting culture of the department. Not perfect leaders; good leaders.
[snip]
We have a sacred duty to ensure that our warriors are led by the most capable and qualified combat leaders. This is one thing you and I can control, and we owe it to the force to deliver it. For too long, we have simply not done that. The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things. In many ways, this speech is about fixing decades of decay, some of it obvious, some of it hidden.
[snip]
For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons, based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts. We’ve pretended that combat arms and non-combat arms are the same thing. We’ve weeded out so-called toxic leaders under the guise of double-blind psychology assessments, promoting risk-averse go-along-to-get-along conformists instead. You name it, the Department did it. Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading, and we lost our way. We became the “Woke Department,” but not anymore.
[snip]
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 ship.
[snip]
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, or 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? In a unit where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance, and war fighting? The answer is not just no, it’s hell no.
This means at the War Department, first and foremost, we must restore a ruthless, dispassionate, and common sense application of standards.
I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape, or in combat unit with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons, platform, or task, or under a leader who was the first but not the best.
Standards must be uniform, gender neutral, and high.
[snip]
Either you can meet the standard, either you can do the job, either you are disciplined, fit, and trained, or you are out. And that’s why today at my direction, and this is the first of 10 Department of War directives that are arriving at your commands as we speak and in your inbox. Today at my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only because this job is life and death.
Standards must be met--and not just met. At every level, we should seek to exceed the standard, to push the envelope, to compete.
[snip]
Today at my direction, we are also adding a combat field test for combat arms units that must be executable in any environment at any time and with combat equipment. These tests, they’ll look familiar. They’ll resemble the Army Expert Physical Fitness Assessment or the Marine Corps Combat Fitness Test. I’m also directing that warfighters in combat jobs execute their service fitness test at a gender-neutral, age-normed male standard scored above 70%.
[snip]
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 and 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 chairborne ranger, a brand new private or a four-star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your PT test.
[snip]
Simply put, if you do not meet the male-level physical standards for combat positions, cannot pass a PT test, or don't want to shave and look professional, it’s time for a new position or a new profession.
[snip]
On the topic of standards, allow me a few words to talk about “toxic” leaders. Upholding and demanding high standards is not toxic. Enforcing high standards, not toxic leadership. 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. It is our duty, consistent with our constitutional oath.
Real toxic leadership is endangering subordinates with low standards. Real toxic leadership is promoting people based on immutable characteristics or quotas, instead of based on merit. Real toxic leadership is promoting destructive ideologies that are an anathema to the Constitution and the laws of nature and nature’s God, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence.
The definition of toxic has been turned upside down, and we’re correcting that.
There’s much more—it’s a remarkably tightly composed speech, identifying problems and stating the planned solutions that are going out in orders right now—but I’m not going to transcribe the whole thing. Take some time to listen to it yourself. You will find yourself wanting to stand and cheer as Secretary Hegseth restores the military to an organization dedicated to defense, not advancing woke ideologies. It’s no wonder that “unnamed” insiders in the Pentagon are frantically trying to undermine Hegseth. Let’s hope they fail spectacularly.