The services, despite the efforts of leftists, is dominated by the alpha-male. The Pentagon has rediscovered that fact.
But for most men-especially the military type-it is much more important to be purposeful than to be safe or included.
Pete Hegseth 29th Secretary of Defense
The War on Warriors: Behind The Betrayal Of The Men who Keep Us Free.[1]
Earlier this year I posted on the fallacy that the military depended on women, homosexuals and transexuals. The author of an article I reviewed said, very dismissively (emphasis mine), “We needed people to fight and were begging people who didn’t want to serve while kicking out those that did. What dawned on me then is something that Peter Hegseth will learn if he becomes secretary of Defense; that a lot of red-blooded, alpha-male, patriotic American men are actually too scared to join the military.”
The gentleman was inaccurate on military recruitments in the 2000s. All the services (except for the Army in 2005) met or exceeded recruiting goals. Another fallacy of the writer was military recruiting cannot compete with a good civilian economy. Right off the bat, we had a booming economy in the 1980s after the malaise and stagflation of the Carter years (thank you Ronald Reagan). Recruiting took off with a major expansion of the services (e.g., a 576-ship navy and a 16-division army).
So what was the difference? I think Secretary Hegseth said it in the book I quoted. The services are still dominated by the “alpha-male.” The quarterback of the football team who leads the men on a last-minute drive to victory. The head basketball coach who takes a group of individuals, makes them a team, and leads them to a championship. The man who comes into a failing corporate office and turns it into a success in a matter of months. The men who make things happen.
These are boys, young men, and men who want to be part of something meaningful. When the military offers that, they have no issues recruiting these top-notch men into the services. When the military has lost its way, the alpha male will head elsewhere (e.g., corporate America).
Back to the quote above, if what the author is saying is accurate, with a definite alpha-male in the presidency and as the Secretary of Defense, we would likely not have people joining up. And that would be disastrous as we are processing transexuals out of the service and forbidding their entry. Well, how to the number looks? From a 2024 report, the Army barley met its goal of 55, 000 new soldiers in FY 2024 (10/1/23 to 9/30/24), after missing it for years before. The Army then upped its goal for FY 2025 to 61, 000 new troops. How is that working out?
Army hits recruiting goal of 61,000 soldiers 4 months early
Todd South Tuesday, Jun 3, 2025
The Army has met its fiscal 2025 recruiting goal four months early, signing 61,000 contracts for new active duty soldiers, officials announced Tuesday.
“This achievement represents a significant turning point for the Army and indicates a renewed sense of patriotism and purpose among America’s youth,” the Army said in a release.
The goal was 10% higher than the 55,000 recruits the Army sought last year. Average contracts per day exceeded last year’s levels by as much as 56% during the same period, according to the release…
Met twelve months of recruiting in only eight. We can debate how much of this is thanks to President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, but one thing is certain. The use of the armed forces as a social Petre dish has stopped (at least till the next election). Being used as an experiment is not appealing to an alpha-male (or alpha-female). Challenges, achievement, having a purpose, a mission in life, does.
Where do we go from here? Hopefully the refocus of the upper levels of the Pentagon continues. Culling the upper DoD bureaucracy is definitely in order. While I have pause in renaming ships (I’m superstitious, it’s bad luck ☺) there is no question focusing the armed forces on warfighting is right. Purging the services of anything saying DEI or multicultural is a great start. Our focus should always be planning for the next conflicts and developing services to win our wars.
Good work President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. Keep it going.
Michael A. Thiac is a retired Army intelligence officer, with over 23 years experience, including serving in the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the Middle East. He is also a retired police patrol sergeant, with over 22 years’ service, and over ten year’s experience in field training of newly assigned officers. He has been published at The American Thinker, PoliceOne.com, and on his personal blog, A Cop’s Watch.
Opinions expressed are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of current or former employers.
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- Hegseth, Pete (2024) The War on Warriors: Behind The Betrayal Of The Men who Keep Us Free, HarperCollins Publications New York NY, page 144 ↑