AP Photo/Kevin Wolf
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has “lost the trust and respect” of several top military members, thanks in large part to his “grandstanding” public appearances, the right-leaning The Washington Times reported on Tuesday.
While many of Hegseth’s changes have been embraced, like his push for tougher fitness standards, one senior officer told WT, the ex-Fox News morning show host’s approach has been off-putting to many military members.
“The theater of it all is below our institution,” the officer said. “Several of these changes are being made already by the services. And they could be made by any secretary… They don’t have to be announced on stage in public in this grandstanding kind of way.”
The officer was referring to Hegseth’s televised speech to top commanders at Quantico last month.
Hegseth said the military was done with “woke garbage,” and moving forward, combat troops would return to meeting the “highest male standard only.” He also said he was implementing a new physical
That speech irritated at least some of the generals in the audience.
“It was a massive waste of time,” one current Army general said. “If he ever had us, he lost us.”
Another senior officer said Hegseth is focused on “not serious things.”
The Army and other branches of the military have seen a surge in enlistments this year, but the officers who spoke with WT said that is masking another problem — the resignation or early retirements of many top generals; more than a dozen other senior generals and admirals have been fired since Hegseth took office in January.
WT added Hegseth’s focus on a “color-blind color- and gender-blind meritocracy is at odds with reality” at the Pentagon.
“Across the services, we are bleeding talent, talented generals and flag officers, for what appears to be the opposite of a meritocracy,” the first officer mentioned above said. “There are people being held back from promotions, or being fired, or removed for sometimes unknown reasons, often for favoritism, or just simple relationships.”