Hundreds of admirals and generals were summoned from around the world last week for today’s rare meeting with Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia, without initially being told why.
Hegseth kicked off the meeting on Tuesday by promoting the new name — the Department of War — and slammed “toxic leaders” who he accused of lowering standards to make the Defense Department the “woke department.”
Hegseth slammed the prior administration for allowing “woke” and “DEI” to take over the department while allowing members of the military to no longer care about their physical shape and standing.
“Point out the obvious things right in front of us. That’s what leaders must do. We cannot go another day without addressing the plank in our own eye without addressing problems in our own commands and own formations,” Hegseth said.
“This administration has done a great deal from day 1 to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department to rip out the pot ticks. No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in addresses, no more climate change worship, no more division, distractio,n or gender delusion, no more debris. I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that ship,” Hegseth declared.
“I made it my mission to uproot the obvious distraction that made us less lethal, that said, the War Department requires the next step underneath the woke garbage is a deeper problem and more important problem we are fixing and fixing fast. Common sense is back at the White House, so making necessary changes is pretty straightforward. President Trump expects it. The litmus test for these changes is pretty simple,” he said.
“It’s unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon, and leading all around the world. It’s a BAD LOOK, and it’s not who we are,” Hegseth declared.
“You need to meet the height and weight standards. Today, at my direction, every member of the Joint Force at every rank is required to take the PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year. EVERY year of service,” he shouted.
WATCH:
Hegseth said he wanted to recognize the “new proactive social media policies.”
“Anonymous, online or keyboard complaining is not worthy of a warrior,” Hegseth said. “It’s cowardice masquerading his conscience. Anonymous, unit level social media pages that trash commanders, demoralize troops and undermine unit cohesion must not be tolerated.”
Hegseth defended his decision to fire senior military officers soon after he was confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
“It’s nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create or even benefited from that culture,” he said.
“An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that ‘our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth said.
He said the “new compass heading is clear: Out with the Chiarellis, the McKenzies and the Millies.”
Hegseth slammed the “toxic leaders” who he said are “endangering subordinates” by “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,” Hegseth said. “The definition of toxic has been turned upside down, and we’re correcting that.”
Hegseth said the War Department will be “undertaking a full review of the department’s definition of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing, to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing.”
He added that “we’re talking about words like bullying and hazing and toxic,” which he said have been “weaponized and bastardized inside our formations, undercutting commanders and NCOS.”
“If that makes me toxic, so be it,” he said.