Time for another of the old professor’s look into our history.
Recently the Sec of War had a pep rally with every commend general and admiral to point a new way for the military….just a few of the highlights from his presentation….
Ethos: “The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,” he said. Specifically, “no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions.”
Non-toxic: He also promised to push back harder against complaints of “toxic” leadership within the military. “We’re undertaking a full review of the department’s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing, to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing.”
Fitness: “Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” he said. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon. … Whether you’re an Airborne Ranger or a chairborne ranger, a brand new private or a four star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards.” He said all members of the military, at every rank, will now have to pass a fitness test twice a year.
Facial hair: “No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression,” Hegseth said. “We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans.”
Basically he was saying no fatties, hairless soldiers and mindless drones.
But being a historian I checked back to the early days of the Continental Army and their fearless leader, George Washington…..
Ten new directives, he said, would strip away what he called “woke garbage” and restore what he termed a “warrior ethos.”
The phrase “warrior ethos” – a mix of combativeness, toughness and dominance – has become central to Hegseth’s political identity. In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors,” he insisted that the inclusion of women in combat roles had drained that ethos, leaving the U.S. military less lethal.
In his address, Hegseth outlined what he sees as the qualities and virtues the American soldier – and especially senior officers – should embody.
On physical fitness and appearance, he was blunt: “It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world.”
He then turned from body shape to grooming: “No more beardos,” Hegseth declared. “The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done.”
As a historian of George Washington, I can say that the commander in chief of the Continental Army, the nation’s first military leader, would have agreed with some of Secretary Hegseth’s directives – but only some.
Washington’s overall vision of a military leader could not be further from Hegseth’s vision of the tough warrior.
For starters, Washington would have found the concern with “fat generals” irrelevant. Some of the most capable officers in the Continental Army were famously overweight.
His trusted chief of artillery, Gen. Henry Knox, weighed around 280 pounds. The French officer Marquis de Chastellux described Knox as “a man of thirty-five, very fat, but very active, and of a gay and amiable character.”
This whole exercise was useless and a waste of time…..but like everything in the Donny admin there must be controls within all systems especially the military for he may need them in the near future.
This exercise would have been just effective in an email but the two clowns had to have their day on the stage.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”