From Fox News: . . . . Pete Hegseth told Fox News Digital that while the attention his War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free book has been getting is “humbling,” it’s also “not entirely surprising” to him, given the widespread concern he’s heard from within the military community, of which he was once a part, about how things have changed in recent years.
“While I was writing the book, I spent a lot of time on the phone talking to guys who are currently serving — they talked to me off the record and anonymously. I had dozens and dozens of conversations, back-to-back phone calls” on many, many weekends, he said.
“And I spoke with privates and corporals and sergeants and lieutenants and captains and colonels from all different branches. Every one of them had a unique story. But they all sounded a similar tune,” said Hegseth.
These weren’t and aren’t partisans, he said. “These are regular guys, and they all said the military today has changed.”
“They told me, ‘I’m walking on eggshells here,’ ‘there’s no accountability,’ ‘the standards have been lowered,’ I’m concerned about political influence.’ It was guy after guy and gal after gal who said that.”
Hegseth also noted, “I make a lot of strong arguments in my book. I do not back down. It’s very direct — and I knew that if I were over my skis on anything I said that I would get blowback. The veteran and military community would say, ‘That’s not in touch with reality.'”
Yet the response from that community, he said, has been “overwhelming.”
“People have said, ‘Thank you for writing what I experienced, what my son experienced, what my father experienced, what my whole family has experienced. Yes, the military is different now.'”
Hegseth said the “sad part here is that we really do have a problem with our military. And this is probably the first book where somebody wrote it down. A guy who has been there wrote it down, understands what people are going through in the military, and can help lay it out.”
Fox News Digital spoke further with Hegseth about exactly what’s going on in the military under the current administration as he reports it — plus got his take on a few other related issues.
Fox News Digital: Do you see any similarities between what’s going on in today’s military, as you detail it in your book, and today’s Secret Service, given the events of July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania and the lack of transparency about what went wrong with security for former President Donald Trump?
Pete Hegseth: It’s a perfect analogy and I thought of it right away. It’s not apples to apples, but it’s pretty darn close. You’ve got a political director not suited for the position, but picked because of political prerogatives. And after the fact, everyone says, “How could this happen?”
And you start to peel back the onion, and you find out, “Oh, they’re doing the DEI stuff. Oh, her goal is to have 30% women in the Secret Service by 2030. Oh, how is it that a bunch of five-foot-seven females get assigned to a six-foot-three president?” So what else is at play here?
And what you see — and this has been confirmed — is that the Secret Service has different standards for men and women for the same position. This means you’re getting less physically qualified people — and this has nothing to do with knocking women. It is just a reality of biology.
These organizations have tried to ignore this as if it doesn’t matter, when in reality anyone who’s ever worn a uniform knows that there’s a big difference — and the big difference doesn’t show up all the time.
It doesn’t show up in the classrooms. It doesn’t show up on the spreadsheets. But it shows up in the moment.
And those are the moments that reveal your vulnerabilities, when you have people who are not sufficiently trained.
So, yes, there is a comparison here — and the scary part is, our military hasn’t yet necessarily seen that exact moment since a lot of things have changed. And we better right the course before we do.
Fox News Digital: In your book, you write, “It’s one thing when a corporation or university goes woke. It’s an entirely different thing for the United States military to go woke.” Can you share more detail about those thoughts?
PH: It’s a necessity that this problem is solved.
My last book was about education [“Battle for the American Mind”] and it got a lot of great feedback. Families could make an immediate choice and change in their lifestyle and say, “I’m going to move somewhere else,” or, “I’m going to homeschool my kids,” or “I’m going to make a choice that affects the way my kids are educated.”
Well, the choice that families have now is, “Do I serve or not serve in the military?”
And so you’re seeing this massive dip in recruitment because you’ve got the traditional military families — those with a generational commitment to service — recommending to their kids, “Don’t do it. It’s different. The brotherhood isn’t there today, the ethos isn’t there, the training isn’t there — but the ideology is there. And I don’t want you to be a part of that.”
So you get a massive dip in recruitment, which leads to some really bad decisions. There are training shortfalls and a lowering of standards. And they may look outside of [American] citizens to fill the ranks, or they’ll look to conscription — that’s what governments ultimately do. They will do it if they have to.
The other challenge is if you don’t fill those ranks with patriots, with people who are capable, there’s nowhere else to go.
The American military exists to protect our interests and our country and our people first, but it’s done a lot of good in the last century protecting freedom around the world, too, which keeps us safe.
But there is no other sort of “freedom army,” so if we lose this one to a generation of social justice, politically correct nonsense — then not only is it difficult to recover, but the biggest fear I have is that it’s open to political manipulation.
And we’re on the cusp of that now. That’s why the next commander-in-chief needs to restore it back to the Constitution, to the standard of meritocracy — and because it’s the last bastion of what actually keeps us free. . . . (read all)
What People Are Saying
(Comments from the article’s comment section)
“I left home at 18 never to return again. I enlisted in the USAF and became a medic & dental technician. I retired as a colonel and an oral surgeon. What a great opportunity for me, one that I do not recommend to my grandchildren due to all the DEI nonsense.”
“I retired 20 years ago after a 23 year Army Armor career (81-04) and contracted to the DOD for another 16 yrs here and overseas. I have a son with 3 combat tours and another son still serving and the changes I see and what they tell me about the required DEI briefings (indoctrination) they have to listen to is ridiculous. The military must be a meritocracy, it can’t survive any other way. We must train warriors, not social warriors. The best people will rise to the top because they are qualified, not because they check some box. I am sure it’s not the Army I retired from, but I remember the state of the military in the late 70’s and President Reagan turned it around. I have faith it can be turned around again, but under different leadership.”
“Pete is correct. Even before Pete’s service, the establishment of diversity councils were a sham. They did not accept diverse opinions, and typically they are not reflective of the organization’s population. My second to last commander was more concerned about image rather than reality. Publishing a lie was acceptable to burnish his image. After 21 years in the Air Force, I spent 33 years at Boeing. The growth of DEI changed Boeing from the company to solve hard problems to one that now bungles its core competency, building airplanes. A picture of the diversity council is proof that it is not reflective of its employees. The first Asian heritage member resigned after 18 months because in his words “it is a hate white male organization”
“Being a service member with two combat deployments (12 and 14) facing both an administrative and medical discharge, simultaneously, I can attest to how the Army has changed over the past 4-ish years; I can say the Army, organizationally, is paralyzed and will sacrifice its commitments to the Soldiers in favor of the political agenda of any given month/year. There is no loyalty from the organization to the Soldier…. This is why the Army will fail once more Soldiers realize they have been deceived into joining an organization and lied to along the way.”
“I retired in 2004 because I could see what bush was doing in Iraq. After a 26 year career, I was tired of being led by idiots. I would never let my kids serve in the military under today’s politicians. They get elected for themselves and no one else.”
“Marine infantry riflemen here…..NEVER would I serve under these soft woke people.”
“A culture of excellence that has taken 200 years to create, is being destroyed in a single generation. The left’s victory over America is nearly complete.“
“They say that they aren’t pushing DEI in the military but we’re still getting emails and training pushing exactly that. They aren’t hiding it. Training/events from the command “Diversity Committee” literally pushes DEI. Our command still has chalk graffiti all over the sidewalks from their celebration of Pride Month. Yeah, the triad lets that happen. Some of the staff NCOs have confided in me that they aren’t confident in the junior troops ability to handle a real-world situation, both physically and emotionally. I told them that it partially falls on the NCOs to push them and get them motivated and trained. They have told me that their hands are tied by the higher ups wanting them to be more “sensitive”. So, yeah, it’s changed for sure. I’ve been serving both in the military and with the military for well north of 30 years. The NCO’s I mentioned are ALL Black and Hispanic and my boss is of Korean heritage. I’m white and never had a single problem following someone’s lead/example if they were a good leader. Heritage never mattered. Maybe that’s why these fellas are comfortable confiding in me what they’re experiencing.“
“It’s shameful and extremely dangerous to our freedoms what has happened to our Military. I’ve been a MARINE combat veteran for over sixty years and the changes I’ve witnessed in the CORPS are alarming. I would/will discourage any member of my family from joining any branch of the military under today’s conditions. So sad!!!!”
“I served in the US Army Infantry through four administrations (Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama). In my view, it really started to change during Clinton. I served one year during the Obama administration and got out because I started to immediately see the vision the military was going. I am a very proud veteran and my kids all are proud and honor all military vets. And it is very sad that I did not recommend military for my kids.”
“The military started its change under Clinton. Democrats hate our military; I served 21 years in the military, retired during Clinton era. I had gone too far to quit before retirement, but I also did not recommend the military for my three boys, who along with my grandchildren, always respect and honor our veterans. Obama and Biden completely disrespect what our military stands for and the people who are in it.”
“My family immigrated to the north American colonies in 1633. We have had men and women in our family in the armed services of the US since the revolutionary war in every generation since the US became a nation. The last three generations in my family have been Marine Corps enlisted 03s, including myself. This is the first generation of my family where all the kids are choosing not to serve. So far out to my second cousins none of our kids are joining the military this generation and I don’t blame them. His book covers all the reasons my children and my cousin’s children are choosing not to serve this time around. Hopefully this will get corrected soon, and my grandkids will serve and this will just be a hiccup in our nation’s history.”
“A friend of mine served 9 yrs active duty, 3 tours overseas in areas of conflict. Refused to take the shot, was expelled from the military, they tried to strip him of all EARNED benefits, ALL ! He sued and won. So spending time in wars zones, being shot at, being a faithful soldier, leading his group, doing his job, being divorced in the process,( Dear John Letter ) wasn’t good enough, refusing one specific shot and they tried to treat him as if he never existed. And I helped encourage him to join! NEVER AGAIN will I do that to someone.”
“’They told me, ‘I’m walking on eggshells here,’ ‘there’s no accountability,’ ‘the standards have been lowered,’ I’m concerned about political influence.’ It was guy after guy and gal after gal who said that.” This is exactly why I left in 2010. Loads of politics, buddy promotions, falsifying paperwork, triple standards.”
“As the seventh generation Army in my family, I will be the last Veteran. I will not push or let my children join this woke Army. My friends who are still in said they are required to have transgender and DEI classes. Plus, they are walking on eggshells, anything they say can be misconstrued, and their career is over.”
“I am a veteran and the son of a veteran. I tell all my friends not to let their sons join. They are like second class citizens in today’s woke military.”
“I agree after over 200 years of my family serving and myself a retired vet, my children will not carry on the tradition! The military is a window dressing of its old self and too political. It’s not about defending the country and winning wars!”
“I am a woman, retired from the Army, helicopter pilot with combat time (not in an airconditioned office like Biden). That said, there are differences between men and women. And each of us too. We cannot lower the standards for DEI. I was lucky when I went through flight school. I had the exact standards as the men. You either do it or not. This is life and death, and security of our nation. Woke does not fit.”
“I wanted my kids to serve after I served and believed in serving my country because I was born into this great nation, but now I have clearly stated I do not want them serving, because, well, it’s NOT worth it.”
“I’m a 3rd generation veteran with a son named Lincoln and daughter named Liberty. My family had over 50 years of continuous service. My son just turned 15 and I can’t in good conscience recommend that he follow the family business. It’s not the same military that his great grandfather and grandfather served in. It’s not even the same that I served in back in the early 2000s!”
“I got out in ’09 after returning from Iraq. Sounds like thing really went downhill. Our Pentagon is full of woke political appointees. Our general officers are more interested in their careers than in a capable, lethal combat force.”
“I just finished Pete’s book. He pulls no punches, especially regarding the woke DEI mentality that is being pushed throughout the military from basic training and the military academies up to the upper echelon of military leadership. I served as an officer in the USAF from 1972 to 1992, and this wokeness was being pushed as early as the mid-70s, starting with compulsory Race Relations training to mandatory Sexual Harassment training. The military has always been the petri dish of leftist social engineering because we salute smartly and do what we are ordered to do. Pete hits every nail on the head. Thanks for speaking up for all of us dedicated military veterans past present and future.”
“Pete hit the nail on head. I can go back to the Civil War with my family’s service. But that is all changing now. My children will not serve or be encouraged to serve under any of this administration’s directives. Even when Trump gets in there, he needs to flush out the DEI appointees and hires before I’ll think about letting my children fight. The lack of meritocracy will cost people their lives. The lack of mission focus will cost people their lives. The lowering of standards will cost people their lives. I won’t be sacrificing my kids to that nonsense.”
“I’m a retired combat vet of two campaigns. My son was in Afghanistan and we talk often. The military I embraced and loved, and served honorably, is gone. Thank God Mr Hegseth is calling them out. Just ordered his book from Amazon. Can’t wait to read it.”
“Amen. I wouldn’t ever EVER let one of my 4 kids serve in this crap show military of today. It’s beyond disgraceful. Shameful.”—Navy
Pete Hegseth: They are pushing the woke agenda ‘from the Harvard faculty lounge into the 101st Airborne’
Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon must return to its core mission on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’
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