WASHINGTON — After summoning hundreds of US generals and admirals to Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia a meeting today, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the event to broadly outline his vision for what he calls the Department of War, dismissing Biden-era policies and pushing, for instance, the “highest male standard” of physical fitness for all combat posts.
“Good morning, and welcome to the War Department, because the era of the Department of Defense is over,” Hegseth opened with.
“This is a moment of urgency, mounting urgency,” he later added. “Enemies gather. Threats grow. There’s no time for games. We must be prepared,” he said. “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 AI in everything and ahead of the curve, more cyber effects, more counter UAS, more space, more speed.”
At the unprecedented gathering of top officers, Hegseth acknowledged he had made some high-profile firings of their colleagues. Hegseth appeared to take a softer line with further firings, saying many were only executing the direction of political leaders at the time. Still, he called on officers who were not fully aligned with the new warrior ethos to do the “honorable thing” and resign.
The secretary of defense, who has long taken aim at women serving in combat units, announced elsewhere in the speech that only the “highest male standard” of physical fitness would be accepted for combat positions.
“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,” he added.
Hegseth delivered his message ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected appearance at the event later this morning.
Hegseth’s decision to gather that many senior leaders in one location is a highly unusual move, in part, due to security concerns associated with gathering top brass military leaders in one location, and the cost and logistics associated with flying them into the nation’s capital. A memo or hosting a secure teleconference is more typical and the sudden summons without a stated reason for the in-person meeting promoted a firestorm of speculation last week when the Washington Post first broke the story late last week.
The ambiguity led to wide-spread ranging from a possible mass firing of officers to a simple pep rally to tout military accomplishments.
Trump, who initially appeared unaware of the meeting during a press gaggle in the Oval Office last week, later weighed in on the gathering.
“It’s really just a very nice meeting talking about how well we’re doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things. It’s just a good message,” Trump later said in an interview with NBC News ahead of today’s event. “We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps.’ You know the expression ‘esprit de corps’? That’s all it’s about. We’re talking about what we’re doing, what they’re doing, and how we’re doing.”