By AFP | Reuters

Copyright dawn

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed “fat generals” and diversity initiatives that he said led to decades of decay in the military and told a rare gathering of commanders on Tuesday they should resign if they don’t support his agenda.

“Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading and we lost our way. We became the ‘Woke Department,’” Hegseth said as he kicked off the event in Quantico, Virginia. “But not anymore,” he said.

Addressing a room full of America’s top generals and admirals, summoned from around the world without explanation last week, Hegseth defended his firings of flag officers, which include the top US general, who is Black, and the Navy’s top admiral, who is a woman. He said the officers he relieved were part of a broken culture.

He promised sweeping changes to how discrimination complaints are handled and how accusations of wrongdoing are investigated at the Pentagon, saying the current system has top brass walking on “egg shells.”

“If the words I’m speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” Hegseth said.

“I know the overwhelming majority of you feel the opposite. These words make your hearts full.”

Hegseth criticised the look of overweight troops, saying: “It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”

He said all fitness tests would be set to male benchmarks only and emphasised the importance of grooming standards.

“The era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos,” Hegseth told the audience, which sat in silence.

Trump tells commanders: I have your backs

US President Donald Trump, as he departed for the event, told reporters on Tuesday that he would fire military leaders on the spot if he did not like them.

Trump then opened with a joke as he took the stage for a speech that lasted more than an hour, saying: “If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room, of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future.” But he then spoke warmly of the military, in sometimes-wandering remarks that touched on issues like the prowess of US nuclear submarines but also included fierce criticism of the media, former President Joe Biden and Venezuela.

He echoed Hegseth when he turned his attention to his opposition to diversity initiatives.

“Merit. Everything’s based on merit. You’re all based on merit. We’re not going to have somebody taking your place for political reasons, because they are politically correct and you’re not,” Trump said.

“I am with you. I support you, and as president, I have your backs 100 per cent,” Trump said.

The auditorium was filled with senior uniformed officials, seated in front of a stage with a large American flag, a lectern and boards that read: “Strength. Service. America.” As Trump spoke, several officers sat looking expressionless, and the room was far quieter than the crowds at Trump’s usual gatherings. A naval officer took notes.

The US military is meant to be apolitical, loyal to the US Constitution and independent of any party or political movement. That creates pressure on the commanders to avoid reacting to overtly political comments, by Trump or Hegseth.

Revamp of Defence priorities

The Pentagon has undergone eight months of blistering changes since Trump took office, including firings, banning books from academy libraries and ordering lethal strikes on suspected drug boats off Venezuela.

“If you try to poison our people, we will blow you out of existence,” Trump told the audience. Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order to rename the Department of Defence the “Department of War,” reverting to a title it held until after World War Two when officials sought to emphasise the Pentagon’s role in preventing conflict. The name change will require congressional approval.

The administration has announced a plan to send National Guard deployments to Chicago, the latest US city where Trump aims to deploy US troops despite objections from local authorities.

Trump announced plans to send National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, over the weekend and sent Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles earlier this year, despite protests from local officials. He acknowledged discomfort among his opponents for deploying the military on US streets, but said America was in the grips of what he described as a war from within waged by illegal immigrants who his administration is seeking to deport.

“America is under invasion from within. We’re under invasion from within, no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don’t wear uniforms,” Trump said.

Trump speaks about COAS Munir

During his address, Trump also mentioned Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, saying he was in the US along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“He is a very important guy in Pakistan … and I didn’t even realise it, as beautiful as he said it to a group of people who were with it … he said this man (Trump) saved millions of lives.

“I was very honoured, I loved the way he said it” the US president said.

He also maintained that Pakistan downed seven Indian jets during the May escalation between the two countries.

Shakeups at Pentagon

Amid speculation over reasons for gathering all the top brass in one place, Vice President JD Vance insisted it was “actually not unusual at all,” and told reporters “it’s odd that you guys have made it into such a big story”.

The Pentagon only said last week that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders,” and the lack of clarity over what would occur fed speculation that a major announcement.

In May, Hegseth ordered major cuts to the number of general and flag officers in the US military, including at least a 20 per cent reduction in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals.

That came after the Pentagon announced in February that it aimed to reduce the number of its civilian employees by at least five per cent.

Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has also purged top officers, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Charles “CQ” Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February.

Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the Navy and Coast Guard, the leaders of the National Security Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to Nato, and three top military lawyers.

Hegseth defended the firings on Tuesday, saying: “it’s nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create — or even benefited from — that culture.”

US forces carried out a nearly two month-long campaign of strikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels earlier this year and also hit three nuclear sites that were a key part of Tehran’s nuclear programme.

And US troops have also been deployed in Los Angeles and Washington — allegedly to combat civil unrest and crime — while similar moves are planned for Portland, Memphis and potentially other cities.