The United States military has been on a long detour. Instead of sharpening the sword for warfighting, too many leaders have been busy dulling the edge with social engineering, endless training slides, and “diversity” mandates that sap time, energy, and morale. As someone who left the Army in 2017 because I could no longer stand mandatory LGBTQ indoctrination briefings, I watched with heartbreak as the institution I loved lost its focus.
This week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth did something extraordinary: he swung a wrecking ball into the bloated bureaucracy and reminded 800 generals that their job is not to manage feelings — it’s to win wars. His golden rule was simple: “Build a military you’d want your own son to join.” That one statement is a gut check every commander should live by.
And for the first time in years, I found myself thinking: maybe I should get back in shape, un-retire, and once again put on the uniform under leadership like this. Because this is the kind of Army worth serving in.
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Hegseth’s Leadership Anchored in a Higher Authority
What makes Hegseth’s approach so refreshing is that it isn’t rooted in ego or politics. It’s rooted in humility before God. His leadership operates under a biblical worldview, which acknowledges there is someone greater than himself. That’s the opposite of the pride and vanity that have poisoned the Pentagon for too long.
A military that answers upward — not just inward — will be one that builds strength, honor, and resilience into every soldier. That kind of force doesn’t break under pressure; it prevails in battle.
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The Ten Directives: A New Warrior Code
Here are the ten directives Hegseth laid down — a new foundation for a warrior military:
1. Adopt the highest male physical standard across combat roles.
2. Twice-yearly height/weight checks and PT tests for all ranks, including generals.
3. Reintroduce realistic combat field tests for combat arms units.
4. Ban beards and enforce strict professional grooming standards.
5. Eliminate DEI mandates, identity months, and diversity bureaucracies.
6. Reform definitions of “toxic leadership” to restore commander authority.
7. Overhaul Inspector General, EEO, and MEO offices that undermine discipline.
8. Ban anonymous social media attacks on commanders and units.
9. Rebrand back to the “War Department” — a fighting force, not a defensive bureaucracy.
10. Require leaders to comply with standards or step aside — no exceptions.
These aren’t cosmetic changes. They’re tectonic shifts that take us from a “safe space” mentality back to a “stronghold” mentality. From PowerPoint warriors to battlefield warriors. From feelings to fighting.
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Why This Matters
History proves that when America fields a military laser-focused on lethality, it deters wars and wins when it fights. The flip side is also true: a distracted, politicized, demoralized military invites disaster. Our enemies watch us closely. They’ve seen the drag shows, the endless pronoun lectures, and the diluted standards — and they’ve laughed.
No more. Hegseth’s wrecking ball smashed through that charade. He is rebuilding the one thing every soldier craves: a military that fights for victory, not ideology.
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A Call to Lead Again
For men like me who left in disgust, this is the first spark of hope in years. I walked away in 2017 because I couldn’t take what my Army had become. But now, for the first time, I can say I’d gladly serve under leadership like this.
If this vision becomes reality, it won’t just make the U.S. military stronger — it will make America safer. And it just might bring back warriors like me, who are ready once again to lead the next generation in the only mission that matters: winning wars and stopping the war on warriors.
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Only one disagreement. ONLY men should be in combat arms. Only Men!!
Concur. Women can be with combat units as MPs, CA, etc. but the occasional Amazon who can qualify for Infantry shouldn’t be in the Infantry because of the many consequences which follow. Her self-actualization doesn’t equal the needs of the service to have the best, most cohesive combat arms units.
Agreed. Those “consequences” include front line nurseries and maternity wards, like on our Naval ships. That’s completely unacceptable. Hegseth believed such and wrote that in his book, “The War on Warriors”, but now has backed off due the feminazi, Dem and RINO pushback. Previous CinC’s put women in combat arms, this CinC can reverse that. Will he?
Slight disagreement. No question, women have absolutely no business in armor, infantry, or tube artillery. HIMAD air defense and rocket artillery, that’s an option.
No one really considers those combat arms, more like combat support or service support, although they are lethal and are technically “combat arms”. Just sayin’. Bottom line is that every woman on the front line represents one less man on the front line. THAT is a weak link in our chain. And that cannot be allowed to continue, if we (Hegseth and Trump) are serious about readying our forces for winning in our new war fighting stance.
A classmate of mine was at TRADOC where they tried to develop MOS-specific PT standards, not gender-based ones. I think this is the right approach. Of course, the DEI and feminazi wokesters dismantled the effort. Maybe the idea will be resurrected.
I have tried to explain how exciting it was to be in the Army during the Reagan era. The things he is pushing are right out of the early 1980s playbook. It is more than just old-timer grousing. Many of the stories my sone tells about today’s toxic leadership environment are things a SAW commanders relieved for doing. Let’s home the next President can maintain these reforms. But I suspect that the leftists courts and Quisling Republicans will fight this every step of the way. I guess many of the senior officials in the room did not clap. I hope there were 5,000 letters of resignation this morning at PERSCOM!
War story, there we were. Mike Ford and I had just had a little over of an hour of our life wasted, valuable time we could’ve used for something useful like watching paint dry. A last minute directive from DA came down about sexual harassment and we had to endure the death by PowerPoint.
Now understand, our unit is a theater level headquarters, we have a lot of women in there. I met Mike as I was walking out, we were completely disgusted, and he beat me to it. “I can summarize that briefing into two words. Be professional!“
I finally watched the briefing last night, hopefully this ends this waste of training time, and life.