FAITH over Fear October 7, 2025: Secretary Hegseth’s Blunt Message to Military Leaders: A Broader Wake Up Call to America!
Due to the momentous significance of Secretary of War Hegseth’s major new directive to America’s Flag Officer class, Dr. Vliet revised the schedule to include this program now, with previously scheduled medical ones in upcoming weeks. Dr. Vliet and Major Gary will discuss the momentous impact and broad significance of Secretary Hegseth’s message to the military, and discuss how this message to our armed forces actually should serve as the basis for a Wake Up Call to ALL sectors of our society – Medicine, Education, Law, Politics, Economy and Ministry.
TRANSCRIPT
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth
Addresses General and Flag Officers at
Quantico, Virginia
Sept. 30, 2025
SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: Mr. Chairman, the joint chiefs, generals, admirals,
commanders, officers, senior enlisted, NCOs, enlisted and every member of our American
military, good morning.
UNKNOWN: Morning.
SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: Good morning and welcome to the War
Department because the era of the Department of Defense is over. You see, the motto of my
first platoon was those who long for peace must prepare for war. This is, of course, not a new
idea. This crowd knows that.
The origin dates to fourth century Rome and has been repeated ever since, including by our
first commander in chief, George Washington, the first leader of the War Department. It
captures a simple yet profound truth. To ensure peace, we must prepare for war.
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.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/ Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 1 /16
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. It’s a truth as old as time.
And since waging war is so costly in blood and treasure, we owe our republic a military that
will win any war we choose or any war that is thrust upon us. Should our enemies choose
foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision and ferocity of the
War Department. In other words, to our enemies, FAFO.
UNKNOWN: Fantastic.
SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: If necessary, our troops can translate that for you.
Another way to put it is peace through strength brought to you by the warrior ethos, and we
are restoring both. As President Trump has said, and he’s right, we have the strongest, most
powerful, most lethal and most prepared military on the planet. That is true, full stop.
Nobody can touch us. It’s not even close.
This is true largely because of the historic investments that he made in his first term, and we
will continue in this term. But it’s also true because of the leaders in this room and the
incredible troops that you all lead. But the world, and as the chairman mentioned, our
enemies get a vote. You feel it. I feel it.
This is a moment of urgency, mounting urgency. Enemies gather. Threats grow. There is no
time for games. We must be prepared. 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 orwe are not.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 2/16
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 Al
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. The moment requires restoring and refocusing our defense industrial base,
our shipbuilding industry and onshoring all critical components. It requires, as President
Trump has done, getting our allies and partners to step up and share the burden.
America cannot do everything. The free world requires allies with real hard power, real
military leadership and real military capabilities. The War Department is tackling and
prioritizing all of these things, and I’ll be giving a speech next month that’ll showcase the
speed, innovation and generational acquisition reforms we are undertaking urgently.
Likewise, the nature of the threats we face in our hemisphere and in deterring China is
another speech for another day coming soon.
This speech today– as I drink my coffee, this speech today is about people and it’s about
culture. The topic today is about the nature of ourselves, because no 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,
competent, qualified, professional, agile, aggressive, innovative, risk-taking, apolitical,
faithful to their oath and to the Constitution.
Eugene Sledge in his World War 11 memoir wrote, “War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible
waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it. The only
redeeming factors are my comrades’ incredible bravery and their devotion to each other.”
In combat, there are thousands of variables, as I learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, and as so
many of you did in so many more places. Leaders can only control about three of them. You
control how well you’re trained, mostly how well you’re equipped, and the last variable is
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 3/16
how well you lead. After that, you’re on your own.
Our warfighters are entitled to be led by the best and most capable leaders. That is who we
need you all to be. Even then, in combat, even if you do everything right, you may still lose
people because the enemy always gets a vote. 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.
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, or as the chairman has put it, we are
clearing out the debris, removing the distractions, clearing the way for leaders to be leaders.
You might say we’re ending the war on warriors. I heard someone wrote a book about that.
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. Right now, I’m looking out at a sea of
Americans who made a choice when they were young men and young women to do
something most Americans will not, to serve something greater than yourself, to fight for
God and country, for freedom and the Constitution.
You made a choice to serve when others did not, and I commend you. You are truly the best
of America. But this does not mean, and this goes for all of us, that our path to this
auditorium on this day was a straight line, or that the conditions of the formations we lead
are where we want them to be. You love your country and we love this uniform, which is why
we must do better.
We just have to be honest. We have to say with our mouths what we see with our eyes, to
just tell it like it is in plain English, to point out the obvious things right in front of us. That’s
what leaders must do. We cannot go another day without directly addressing the plank in
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 4/16
our own eye, without addressing the problems in our own commands and in our own
formations.
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 shit. I’ve made it my mission to
uproot the obvious distractions that made us less capable and less lethal. That said, the War
Department requires the next step.
Underneath the woke garbage is a deeper problem and a more important problem that we
are fixing and fixing fast. Common sense is back at the White House, so making the
necessary changes is actually pretty straightforward. President Trump expects it. And the
litmus test for these changes is pretty simple.
Would I want my eldest son, who is 15 years old, eventually joining the types of formations
that we are currently wielding? If in any way the answer to that is no, or even yes but, then
we’re doing something wrong, because my son is no more important than any other
American citizen who dons the cloth of our nation. He is no more important than your son,
all precious souls made in the image and likeness of God.
Every parent deserves to know that their son or their daughter that joins our ranks is
entering exactly the kind of unit that the secretary of war would want his son to join. Think
of it as the Golden Rule test. Jesus said do unto others that which you would have done unto
yourself. It’s the ultimate simplifying test of truth.
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 under trained 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.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 5/16
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. If not, they’re not standards. They’re
just suggestions, suggestions that get our sons and daughters killed.
When it comes to combat arms units, and there are many different stripes across our joint
force, the era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don’t hurt anyone’s feelings leadership
ends right now. At every level, 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 ten 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 or 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. It’s common sense and core to
who we are and what we do. It should be in our DNA.
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 war-fighters in combat jobs
execute their service fitness test at a gender-neutral age normed male standard scored
above 70 percent.
It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard
PT, so can every member of our joint force. 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.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 6/16
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. And
as the chairman said, yes, there is no PT test. But today, at my direction, every member of
the joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height
and weight requirements twice a year every year of service.
Also today, at my direction, every warrior across our joint force is required to do PT every
duty day. It should be common sense, and most units do that already, but we’re codifying it.
And we’re not talking, like, hot yoga and stretching, real hard PT and as — either as a unit or
as an individual.
At every level, from the Joint Chiefs to everyone in this room to the youngest private,
leaders set the standard. And so many of you do this already, active, guard and reserve. This
also means grooming standards. No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression.
We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards.
Because it’s like the broken windows theory in policing. It’s like you let the small stuff go, the
big stuff eventually goes, so you have to address the small stuff. This is on duty, in the field
and in the rear. If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave.
We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans. But unfortunately, we have had leaders who
either refuse to call BS and enforce standards, or leaders who felt like they were not allowed
to enforce standards. Both are unacceptable. And that’s why today, at my direction, the era
of unprofessional appearance is over.
No more beardos. The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done. 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.
I sincerely appreciate the proactive efforts the secretaries have already taken in some of
those areas — service secretaries. And these directives are intended to simply accelerate
those efforts. On the topic of standards, allow me a few words to talk about toxic leaders.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 7 /16
Upholding and demanding high standards is not toxic. Enforcing high standards, not toxic
leadership. Leading warfighters 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. That’s why
today, at my direction we’re undertaking a full review of the department’s definitions of socalled
toxic leadership, bullying and hazing, to empower leaders to enforce standards
without fear of retribution or second guessing.
Of course, you can’t do, like, nasty bullying and hazing. We’re talking about words like
bullying and hazing and toxic. They’ve been weaponized and bastardized inside our
formations, undercutting commanders and NCOs. No more. Setting, achieving and
maintaining high standards is what you all do. And if that makes me toxic, then so be it.
Second, today, at our direction, we’re ensuring that every service, every unit, every
schoolhouse and every form of professional military education conduct an immediate
review of their standards. Now, we’ve done this in many places already, but today it goes
across the entire Department of War.
Any place where tried and true physical standards were altered, especially since 2015 when
combat arms standards were changed to ensure females could qualify, must be returned to
their original standard. Other standards have been manipulated to hit racial quotas as well,
which is just as unacceptable. This too must end; merit only. The President talks about it all
the time, merit-based.
Here are two basic frameworks I urge you to pursue in this process, standards I call — my
staff’s heard all about them, the 1990 test and the E-6 test. The 1990 test is simple. What
were the military standards in 1990? And if they have changed, tell me why. Was it a
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 8/16
necessary change based on the evolving landscape of combat, or was the change due to a
softening, weakening or gender-based pursuit of other priorities? 1990 seems to be as good
a place to start as any.
And the E-6 test. Ask yourself does what you’re doing make the leadership, accountability
and lethality efforts of an E-6 or, frankly, an 0-3, does it make it easier or more complicated?
Does the change empower staff sergeants, petty officers and tech sergeants to get back to
basics? The answer should be a resounding yes. The E-6 test or 0-3 test clarifies a lot, and it
clarifies quickly.
Because war does not care if you’re a man or a woman. Neither does the enemy, nor does
the weight of your rucksack, the size of an artillery round or the body weight of a casualty
on the battlefield who must be carried. This — and I want to be very clear about this. This is
not about preventing women from serving. We very much value the impact of female
troops. Our female officers and NCOs are the absolute best in the world.
But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those
physical standards must be high and gender-neutral. If women can make it, excellent. If not,
it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the
intent, but it could be the result. So be it. It will also mean that weak men won’t qualify
because we’re not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death.
As we all know, this is you versus an enemy hell bent on killing you. To be an effective lethal
fighting force, you must trust that the warrior alongside you in battle is capable, truly
physically capable of doing what is necessary under fire. You know this is the only standard
you would want for your kids and for your grandkids. Apply the War Department Golden
Rule, the 1990 test and the E-6 test, and it’s really hard to go wrong.
Third, we are attacking and ending the walking on eggshells and zero defect command
culture. A risk averse culture means officers execute not to lose instead of to win. A risk
averse culture means NCOs are not empowered to enforce standards. Commanders and
NCOs don’t take necessary risks or make tough adjustments for fear of rocking the boat or
making mistakes.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 9/16
A blemish free record is what peacetime leaders covet the most, which is the worst of all
incentives. You, we as senior leaders, need to end the poisonous culture of risk aversion and
empower our NC Os at all levels to enforce standards. Truth be told, for the most part we
don’t need new standards. We just need to reestablish a culture where enforcing standards
is possible.
And that’s why today, at my direction, I’m issuing new policies that will overhaul the IG, EO
and MEO processes. I call it the no more walking on eggshells policy. We are liberating
commanders and NCOs. We are liberating you. We are overhauling an inspector general
process, the IG, that has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor
performers in the driver’s seat.
We’re doing the same with the equal opportunity and military equal opportunity policies,
the EO and MEO, at our department. No more frivolous complaints. No more anonymous
complaints. No more repeat complainants. No more smearing reputations. No more endless
waiting. No more legal limbo. No more sidetracking careers. No more walking on eggshells.
Of course, being a racist has been illegal in our formation since 1948. The same goes for
sexual harassment. Both are wrong and illegal. Those kinds of infractions will be ruthlessly
enforced. But telling someone to shave or get a haircut or to get in shape or to fix their
uniform or to show up on time, to work hard, that’s exactly the kind of discrimination we
want.
We are not civilians. You are not civilians. You are set apart for a distinct purpose. So, we as a
department need to stop acting and thinking like civilians and get back to basics and put the
power back in the hands of commanders and NCOs, commanders and NCOs who make life
and death decisions, commanders and NCOs who enforce standards and ensure readiness,
commanders and NCOs who in this War Department have to look in the mirror and have to
pass the Golden Rule test, my kids, your kids, America’s sons and daughters.
So, I urge you all here today and those watching, take this guidance and run with it. The core
of this speech is the ten directives we’re announcing today. They were written for you, for
Army leadership, for Navy leadership, for Marine Corps leadership, for Air Force leadership,
Space Force leadership.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 10/16
These directives are designed to take the monkey off your back and put you, the leadership,
back in the driver’s seat. Move out with urgency because we have your back. I have your
back, and the commander in chief has your back.
And when we give you this guidance, we know mistakes will be made. It’s the nature of
leadership. But you should not pay for earnest mistakes for your entire career. And that’s
why today, at my direction, we’re making changes to the retention of adverse information on
personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable earnest or minor infractions to not
be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity.
People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career.
Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes, and that’s not the business we’re in. We need
risk takers and aggressive leaders and a culture that supports you.
Fourth, at the War Department, promotions across the joint force will be based on one
thing: merit; colorblind, gender-neutral, merit based. The entire promotion process,
including evaluations of warfighting capabilities, is being thoroughly reexamined. We’ve
already done a lot in this area, but more changes are coming soon.
We’ll promote top performing officers and NCOs faster and get rid of poor performers more
quickly. Evaluations, education and field exercises will become real evaluations, not box
checks, for every one of us at every level. These same reforms happened before World War
11 as well. General George Marshall and Secretary of War Henry Stimson did the same thing,
and we won a world war because of it.
As it happens, when he started the job, Chairman Caine gave me a frame and a photo to
hang in my office. A matching frame and photo hangs in his. It’s a photo of Marshall and
Stimson preparing for World War 11. Those two leaders famously kept the door open
between their offices for the entirety of the war.
They worked together, civilian and uniform, every single day. Chairman Caine and I do the
same. There is no daylight between us. Our doors are always open. Our job together is to
ensure our military is led by the very best ready to answer the nation’s call.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 11 /16
Fifth, as you have seen and the media has obsessed over, I have fired a number of senior
officers since taking over, the previous chairman, other members of the Joint Chiefs,
combatant commanders and other commanders. The rationale, for me, has been
straightforward. It’s nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped
create or even benefited from that culture, even if that culture was created by a previous
president and previous secretary.
My approach has been simple. When in doubt, assess the situation, follow your gut and, if
it’s the best for the military, make a change. We all serve at the pleasure of the President
every single day. But in many ways, it’s not their fault. It’s not your fault. As foolish and
reckless as the woke department was, those officers were following elected political
leadership.
An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane
fallacy that “our diversity is our strength.” Of course, we know our unity is our strength.
They had to put out dizzying DEi and LGBTQI+ statements. They were told females and
males are the same thing, or that males who think they’re females is totally normal.
They were told that we need a green fleet and electric tanks. They were told to kick out
Americans who refused an emergency vaccine. They followed civilian policies set by foolish
and reckless political leaders. Our job, my job, has been to determine which leaders simply
did what they must to answer the prerogatives of civilian leadership and which leaders are
truly invested in the woke department and therefore incapable of embracing the War
Department and executing new lawful orders.
That’s it. It’s that simple. So, for the past eight months, we’ve gotten a good look under the
hood of our officer corps. We’ve done our best to thoroughly assess the human terrain.
We’ve had to make trade-offs and some difficult decisions. It’s more of an art than science.
We have been and will continue to be judicious but also expeditious.
The new compass heading is clear. Out with the Chiarellis, the McKenzies and the Milleys,
and in with the Stockdales, the Schwarzkopfs and the Pattens. More leadership changes will
be made, of that I’m certain, not because we want to but because we must. Once again, this
is life and death. The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right
policies. Personnel is policy.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 12/16
But I look out at this group and I see great Americans, leaders who have given decades to
our great republic at great sacrifice to yourselves and to your families. But if the words I’m
speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and
resign. We would thank you for your service.
But I suspect, I know, the overwhelming majority of you feel the opposite. These words
make your hearts full. You love the War Department because you love what you do, the
profession of arms. You are hereby liberated to be an apolitical, hard charging, no nonsense
constitutional leader that you joined the military to be.
We need you locked in on the M, not the D, the E or the I, not the DEi or the DIE of DIME. By
that I mean the M, military, of the instruments of national power. We have entire
departments across the government dedicated to diplomatic, informational and economic
lines of effort. We do the M. Nobody else does. And our GOFOs need to master it in every
domain, in every scenario, no more distractions, no more political ideologies, no more
debris.
Now, of course, we’re going to disagree at times. We would not be Americans if we didn’t.
Being a leader in a large organization like ours means having frank conversations and
differences of opinion. You will win some arguments and you will lose some arguments. But
when civilian leaders issue lawful orders, we execute. We are professionals in the profession
of arms. Our entire constitutional system is predicated upon this understanding.
Now, it seems like a small thing, but it’s not. This includes as well the behavior of our troops
online. To that end, I want to thank and recognize the services for their new proactive social
media policies. Use them. Anonymous online or keyboard complaining is not worthy of a
warrior. It’s cowardice masquerading as conscience. Anonymous unit level social media
pages that trash commanders, demoralize troops and undermine unit cohesion must not be
tolerated. Again, 0-3s, E-6s.
Sixth, we must train and we must maintain. Any moment that we are not training on our
mission or maintaining our equipment is a moment we are less prepared for preventing or
winning the next war. That is why today, at my direction, we are drastically reducing the
ridiculous amount of mandatory training that individuals and units must execute.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 13/16
We’ve already ended the most egregious. Now we’re giving you back real time; less
PowerPoint briefings and fewer online courses, more time in the motor pool and more time
on the range. Our job is to make sure you have the money, equipment, weapons and parts to
train and maintain, and then you take it from there.
You all know this because it’s common sense. The tougher and the higher the standards in
our units, the higher the retention rates in those units. Warriors want to be challenged.
Troops want to be tested. When you don’t train and you don’t maintain, you demoralize. And
that’s when our best people decide to take their talents to the civilian world.
The leaders who created the woke department have already driven out too many hard
chargers. We reverse that trend right now. There is no world in which high intensity war
exists without pain, agony and human tragedy. We are in a dangerous line of work. You are in
a dangerous line of work. We may lose good people, but let no warrior cry out from the
grave “if only I had been properly trained.”
We will not lose warfighters because we failed to train or equip them or resource them.
Shame on us if we do. Train like your warriors lives depend on it, because they do. To that
point, basic training is being restored to what it should be, scary, tough and disciplined.
We’re empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits, ensuring that future
warfighters are forged.
Yes, they can shark attack, they can toss bunks, they can swear, and yes, they can put their
hands on recruits. This does not mean they can be reckless or violate the law, but they can
use tried and true methods to motivate new recruits, to make them the warriors they need
to be. Back to basics at basic as well.
Of course, and you know this, basic training is not where mission readiness should end. The
nature of the evolving threat environment demands that everyone in every job must be
ready to join the fight if needed. A core credo of the Marine Corps is every Marine a
rifleman.
It means that everyone, regardless of MOS, is proficient enough to engage an enemy threat
at sea, in the air or in a so-called rear area. We need to ensure that every member of our
uniformed military maintains baseline proficiency in basic combat skills, especially because
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 14/16
the next war, like the last, will likely not have a rear area.
Finally, as President Trump rightly pointed out when he changed the department name, the
United States has not won a major theater war since the name was changed to the
Department of Defense in 1947. One conflict stands out in stark contrast, the Gulf War.
Why? Well, there’s a number of reasons, but it was a limited mission with overwhelming
force and a clear end state.
But why did we execute and win the Gulf War the way we did in 1991? There’s two
overwhelming reasons. One was President Ronald Reagan’s military buildup gave an
overwhelming advantage, and two, military and Pentagon leadership had previous
formative battlefield experiences. The men who led this department during the Gulf War
were mostly combat veterans of the Vietnam War. They said never again to mission creep or
nebulous end states.
The same holds true today. Our civilian and military leadership is chock full of veterans from
Iraq and Afghanistan who say never again to nation building and nebulous end states. This
clear eyed view all the way to the White House, combined with President Trump’s military
buildup, postures us for future victories if, and we will, and when we embrace the War
Department.
And we must. We are preparing every day. We have to be prepared for war, not for defense.
We’re training warriors, not defenders. We fight wars to win, not to defend. Defense is
something you do all the time. It’s inherently reactionary and can lead to overuse, overreach
and mission creep. War is something you do sparingly on our own terms and with clear aims.
We fight to win. We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy.
We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our war-fighters
to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically
correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and
authority for war-fighters.
That’s all I ever wanted as a platoon leader. And it’s all my E-6 squad leaders ever wanted,
back to that E-6 rule. We let our leaders fight their formations and then we have their back.
It’s very simple yet incredibly powerful.
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 15/16
A few months ago, I was at the White House when President Trump announced his
liberation day for America’s trade policy. It was a landmark day. Well, today is another
liberation day, the liberation of America’s warriors, in name, in deed and in authorities. You
kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily
belong always in polite society.
We are not an army of one. We are a joint force of millions of selfless Americans. We are
warriors. We are purpose built not for fair weather, blue skies or calm seas. We were built to
load up in the back of helicopters, five tons, or Zodiacs in the dead of night, in fair weather or
foul to go to dangerous places to find those who would do our nation harm and deliver
justice on behalf of the American people in close and brutal combat if necessary.
You are different. We fight not because we hate what’s in front of us. We fight because we
love what’s behind us. You see, the Ivy League faculty lounges will never understand us. And
that’s okay, because they could never do what you do. The media will mischaracterize us.
And that’s okay, because deep down they know the reason they can do what they do is you.
In this profession, you feel comfortable inside the violence so that our citizens can live
peacefully. Lethality is our calling card and victory our only acceptable end state.
In closing, a few weeks ago at our monthly Pentagon Christian prayer service I recited a
commander’s prayer. It’s a simple yet meaningful prayer for wisdom for commanders and
leaders. I encourage you to look it up if you’ve never seen it. But the prayer, it ends like this.
And most of all, Lord, please keep my soldiers safe, lead them, guide them, protect them,
watch over them. And as you gave all of yourself for me, help me give all of myself for them.
And amen.
I’ve prayed this prayer many times since I’ve had the privilege of being your Secretary, and I
will continue to pray this prayer for each of you as you command and lead our nation’s finest.
Go forth and do good things, hard things. President Trump has your back and so do I, and
you’ll hear from him shortly. Move out and draw fire, because we are the War Department.
Godspeed.
Hosted by Defense Media Activity – WEB.mil
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4318689/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v/ 16/16
