Fat generals will be ousted from the Pentagon and all staff weighed twice a year under Donald Trump’s new-look department of war.

At a highly unusual gathering of the US military’s highest-ranking officers, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, rallied more than 800 admirals and generals at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia to “prepare for war”.

“The only mission of the newly restored department of war is this: warfighting, preparing for war, and preparing to win,” he said at the beginning of his rousing 45-minute-long speech, announcing a total overhaul of standards and ideology.

The reinvention will require all combat troops to be held to the “highest male standard only,” whether male or female, implement a ban on beards and bar fat generals from the Pentagon, with all personnel subject to a twice-yearly weigh-in.

“This job is life and death. Standards must be met,” the US defence secretary told Tuesday’s gathering of military top brass, who had travelled from all over the world to be there.

Referring to his 15-year-old son’s potential future service, Mr Hegseth said: “I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape, or in combat units with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men.”