'Fat generals': Hegseth sets new norms for US military; slams 'woke' culture

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gathered galore subject officials connected Tuesday astatine the Marine Corps basal successful Quantico, Virginia, for an in-person gathering to found caller directives, including implementing gender-neutral carnal fittingness standards and eliminating what helium termed "woke" civilization from the military. Hegseth criticized the signifier of promoting leaders based connected radical and sex quotas oregon for achieving "historic firsts."

"The epoch of politically correct, overly delicate don't-hurt-anyone's-feelings enactment ends close present astatine each level," Hegseth said. “I don’t privation my lad serving alongside troops who are retired of shape, oregon successful a combat portion with females who can’t conscionable the aforesaid Combat Arms carnal standards arsenic men, oregon troops who are not afloat proficient connected their assigned weapons, platform, oregon task, oregon nether a person who was the archetypal but not the best.

Standards indispensable beryllium uniform, sex neutral and high,” helium added. Hegseth announced plans to trim disciplinary regulations and diminish hazing safeguards. The assembly, which included subject leaders from crossed the globe, was kept concealed until the greeting of the meeting. He besides emphasized carnal fitness, saying, "It’s wholly unacceptable to spot abdominous generals and admirals successful the halls of the Pentagon starring commands astir the country, successful the world, it’s a atrocious look."

“It each starts with carnal fittingness and appearance,” helium said. “If the Secretary of War tin bash regular, hard PT [physical training], truthful tin each subordinate of our associated force.” “Today astatine my direction, each subordinate of the associated force, astatine each rank, is required … [to] conscionable tallness and value requirements doubly a twelvemonth each year,” Hegseth added. “The subject has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to absorption connected the incorrect things,” helium argued, earlier adding, “This code is astir fixing decades of decay, immoderate of it obvious, immoderate of it hidden.” Hegseth besides criticized carnal fittingness and grooming standards, biology policies, and transgender troops, portion emphasizing his and President Trump’s absorption connected “the warrior ethos” and “peace done strength.” He called for reforms to unit records, saying, “Changes to the retention of adverse accusation connected unit records … volition let leaders with forgivable, earnest, oregon insignificant infractions to not beryllium encumbered by those infractions successful perpetuity.” “People marque honorable mistakes, and our mistakes should not specify an full career,” Hegseth said. “Otherwise, we lone effort not to marque mistakes.” Further asserting his stance, helium warned, "Military leaders should 'do the honorable happening and resign' if they don't similar my attack to the equipped forces." The Quantico gathering has drawn attraction owed to its unprecedented scale, urgency, and deficiency of transparency, with elder officers attending from locations including Middle Eastern struggle zones. "The conception that the caput is going to speech to the generals and springiness them his imaginativeness for moving the section — and possibly besides for strategy and enactment — that's perfectly reasonable," said Mark Cancian, elder advisor astatine the Center for Strategic and International Studies and retired Marine colonel. "What's mystifying is wherefore it's connected specified abbreviated notice, wherefore it's successful idiosyncratic and what other mightiness beryllium involved," helium added. The gathering comes amid a imaginable authorities shutdown and follows Hegseth's caller unexplained decisions, including reducing wide serviceman positions and dismissing elder subject officials. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed the gathering Thursday but provided nary further details. When asked astir the gathering successful the Oval Office, Trump had said helium would "be determination if they privation me, but wherefore is that specified a large deal?" A White House typical aboriginal confirmed his planned information connected Sunday.