QUANTICO, Va. – In an unprecedented 90-minute event this morning, featuring President Trump and his secretary of the newly renamed “Department of War”, Pete Hegseth, hundreds of top generals and admirals gathered in a spectacle that some likened to a rally. President Trump even noted, “I have never walked into a room so silent before. This is very — oh, don’t laugh — don’t laugh. You’re not allowed to do that.” He said, adding, “You know what, just have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud, and if you want to do anything you want, you can do anything you want.”
The president then praised the use of military force to police American cities, telling generals and admirals during the address that it was important to quell “the enemy within.”
“San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they’re very unsafe places and we’re gonna straighten them out one by one,” Trump told hundreds of senior U.S. military officers packed into a hall at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va.
Pundits noted the optics of the event resembled a loyalty test while also worrying about the security risk of concentrating so many senior officers in a single auditorium with the U.S. President and Secretary of Defense (War).
The timing raised eyebrows: the event came just hours before a likely government shutdown. Yet the message from the stage was clear. Hegseth used his keynote address to redefine the military’s culture and priorities, centralize and “warrior ethos,” while casting “wokeness” as the true enemy.
“We became ‘the woke department,’” the Defense Secretary declared. “Not any more. We’re done with that shit.”
Hegseth claimed victory in purging the Pentagon of “social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage,” boasting: “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions, no more debris.”
29th Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Official Portrait (DoD photo by Chad J. McNeeley)
Fitness and Women in Combat
Hegseth also discussed fitness standards, directing commanders to crack down on what he called a culture of laxity. “Fat troops are tiring to look at,” he said. “It’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops.”
He extended the criticism to the highest ranks: “I lament having to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon, and leading commands around the country and the world.”
Alongside a demand for leaner troops, Hegseth rolled out a controversial directive: combat standards would now be based solely on the “highest male standard.”
“Each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat [member of service] for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only,” he ordered.
In his remarks, Hegseth acknowledged the policy could sideline women. “This is not about preventing women from serving. We very much value the impact of female troops. But 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.”
The Defense Secretary’s comments drew muted reaction from commanders in the room, though outside observers warned the directive could sharply reduce women’s participation in combat roles.
“This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics, Hegseth noted. “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris.”
“No More Beards” nor, apparently, and Nordic Pagans
Hegseth closed with a blast at grooming standards, vowing to end what he described as an “era of unprofessional appearance.”
“No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression,” he said. “We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards. The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done. No more beardos.”
Acknowledging the existing exemption for Special Forces, he added: “If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave. We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans.”
Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the military must show a compelling interest before restricting religious practice. Court cases over the past decade have affirmed exemptions for Sikhs, Jews, and others who maintain beards for religious reasons. In 2022, a federal court ruled in Singh v. Berger that Sikh recruits could not be denied entry to the Marine Corps on that basis.
How Hegseth’s “no beardos” policy will affect existing accommodations remains unclear. A Pentagon memo issued Tuesday suggested requests would only be approved for “non-deployable roles with low risk of chemical attack or firefighting requirements,” citing concerns about gas mask seals.
Shifting the Military’s Role
For many inside the Pentagon, the Quantico event felt like a sharp turn away from traditional priorities. Trump encouraged commanders to “just have a good time,” while Hegseth sketched a vision of the armed forces as leaner, harsher, and stripped of diversity initiatives.
“The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies,” Hegseth concluded. “But if the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign. We will thank you for your service.”
For critics, the rhetoric suggested a dangerous shift. “This struck us as a distraction that threatens to move the military’s focus away from foreign threats toward an unprecedented domestic role,” said one defense official.
Whether framed as a loyalty test or a cultural purge, the Quantico gathering underscored the degree to which the Department of Defense (or War) under Hegseth is redefining its mission and its image for a new political era.
Meanwhile, it’s important to note that Norse warriors were historically celebrated for their fighting prowess.
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