Col. Rob Maness on Secretary Pete Hegseth’s reforms

On Securing America with host Frank Gaffney, Frank is joined by retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness to discuss Secretary Pete Hegseth’s reforms to military promotion, education, and readiness, the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, and practical steps for civic engagement.

Rob praises Hegseth’s restoration of merit-based promotion and selection, which he says has improved morale and recruiting, with all branches meeting or exceeding their goals despite internal bureaucratic resistance.

He describes the review of service academies and war colleges that produced 33 directives, including a focus on preparing officers to win wars after finding that none of the war colleges’ mission statements included “victory” or “winning.”

He highlights operational examples such as the Venezuela mission and the initial U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran, while criticizing the decision to pause operations for possible negotiations and warning against reduced funding for deployed forces.

Rob also outlines the approach in his book What You Can Do About It, urging citizens to identify an issue, organize with others, raise resources, and engage at the local level through school boards, city councils, and party activities.

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