Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth addressed hundreds of generals and admirals flown in from cross the globe, outlining his new standards for America’s armed forces: no focus on diversity, no race or gender quotas, no ban on toxic leaders and hazing, no “woke,” and no “beardos.”
“An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that our diversity is our strength,” Secretary Hegseth declared. “Of course, we know our unity is our strength.”
“They had to put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQI+ statements. They were told females and males are the same thing. Or that males who think they’re females are totally normal. They were told that we need a green fleet and electric tanks. They were told to kick out Americans who refuse an emergency vaccine,” he said.
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“For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons,” he continued. “Based on their race. Based on gender quotas. Based on historic so-called ‘firsts’. We’ve pretended that combat arms and non-combat arms are the same thing. We’ve weeded out so-called toxic leaders under the guise of double-blind psychology assessments, promoting risk-averse go-along-to-get-along conformists instead.”
“We became the Woke Department. But not anymore,” he vowed.
“This administration has done a great deal from day one,” the Defense chief also said. “To remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department. To rip out the politics.”
“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses,” he said. “No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris.”
“As I’ve said before, and will say again, we are done with that s–.”
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Hegseth also made clear that he was returning to the days of the past in other ways.
“Basic training is being restored to what it should be: scary, tough, and disciplined. We’re empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits. Ensuring that future war fighters are forged. Yes, they can shark attack, they can toss bunks, they can swear. And, yes, they can put their hands on recruits. This does not mean they can be reckless or violate the law, but they can use tried and true methods to ‘motivate,’” he said.
And he addressed “grooming standards,” declaring that beards are not allowed.
“No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression. We gonna cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards. Because it’s like the broken windows theory of policing. It’s like, you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes. So you have to address the small stuff.”
“If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave. We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans, but unfortunately, we have had leaders who either refuse to call BS and enforce standards, or leaders who felt like they were not allowed to enforce standards.”
“And that’s why today, at my direction, the era of unprofessional appearance is over,” he professed. “No more beardos.”
Hegseth: “An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must the parrot the insane fallacy that ‘our diversity is our strength’ … they were told females and males are the same thing.” pic.twitter.com/ff1CfoMcTh
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 30, 2025
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Image via Reuters
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