Shortly after Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump\u2019s defense secretary, summoned all the military\u2019s generals to Quantico, Virginia, from their positions around the world in an unusual demand for an in-person assembly, Ben Hodges, a retired general, took to social media to evoke a bit of history. \u201cJuly 1935,\u201d Hodges said. \u201cGerman generals were called to a surprise assembly in Berlin and informed that their previous oath to the Weimar constitution was void and that they would be required to swear a personal oath to the F\u00fchrer. Most generals took the new oath to keep their positions.\u201d Hegseth\u2019s account replied to Hodges post: \u201cCool story, General.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet when the meeting finally happened on Tuesday morning, the army generals and navy admirals were treated to a 45-minute speech by Hegseth, followed by a rambling, hour-long address by Trump, which confirmed at least some of what Hodges seemed to fear. The defense secretary emphasized the army\u2019s appearance, decrying \u201cfat troops\u201d and \u201cfat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon\u201d, and signaled his intent to reshape the military\u2019s culture so as to purge \u201cwokeness\u201d and evoke a more masculine image. \u201cNo more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cNo more division, distraction and gender delusions. No more debris. As I\u2019ve said before, and will say again: We are done. With that. Shit.\u201d The military, Hegseth suggested, would become an advertisement for the Trump regime\u2019s preferred cultural style, and this transformation will evidently involve many changes to what the armed forces look like when they are photographed.<\/p>\n To this end, Hegseth announced that he would also be eliminating or drastically curtailing the equal opportunity, whistleblower, inspector general and complaint procedures that allow military personnel to report harassment and misconduct. The changes seemed designed to particularly roll back efforts undertaken over the course of the 2010s to reduce sexual assault in the military and end its impunity.<\/p>\n \u201cNo more frivolous complaints, no more repeat complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more smearing reputations,\u201d said Hegseth, who settled a lawsuit<\/a> brought by a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2020. (The settlement terms are confidential. Hegseth has said the allegations were false). \u201cNo more walking on eggshells.\u201d One former official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told CNN<\/a>: \u201cI think what this is, is people are sick and tired of not being able to make inappropriate or sexually explicit jokes at the staff meetings.\u201d Hegseth, it seems, is committed to restoring this treasured freedom.<\/p>\n Hegseth similarly declared that he would be changing procedures that have allowed the military to be more diverse \u2013 such as eliminating special permissions for soldiers to grow beards, frequently used by Black soldiers, and raising physical fitness standards for specialized, often high-pay and high-status combat roles to what Hegseth seemed to believe is a threshold only men will meet. Hegseth, who has opposed<\/a> women serving in combat roles, said that candidates for such jobs will be held to the \u201chighest male standard\u201d, which he also said was \u201cgender neutral\u201d. \u201cIf that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it,\u201d Hegseth said<\/a>. \u201cThat is not the intent,\u201d he added, questionably. \u201cBut it could be the result.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the officers themselves, a group which included several Black men and women of various races, Hegseth seemed to offer what he evidently thought was a flattering assessment of their masculine violence and virility. \u201cYou kill people and break things for a living,\u201d Hegseth said to the assembled generals. \u201cYou are not politically correct and do not necessarily belong always in polite society.\u201d The speech was repetitive and heavy on moments of self-conscious macho posturing. \u201cTo our enemies,\u201d Hegseth said at one point \u201cFAFO\u201d \u2013 or, fuck around and find out. The defense secretary paused, seeming to wait for applause, but nobody clapped.<\/p>\n Trump, meanwhile, also signaled that he seeks to transform the military into a partisan tool of his regime, repeatedly telling the assembled leaders that they would be tasked with missions targeting Americans. \u201cAmerica is under invasion from within,\u201d the president said. \u201cWe\u2019re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don\u2019t wear uniforms. At least when they\u2019re wearing a uniform you can take them out. It\u2019s war from within.\u201d Trump, who just days ago deployed 200 national guard troops to Portland, Oregon<\/a>, with orders to use \u201cfull force, if necessary\u201d offered that he had instructed Hegseth to use American cities as \u201ctraining grounds\u201d. <\/p>\n