WASHINGTON: US Defense 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 (Sep 30) 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 the 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 was black, and the Navy’s top admiral, who was 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 honourable 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.