No More “Fat Generals”: Pete Hegseth is Making the Military Great Again

Following four years in which the Biden administration hijacked the U.S. military to push DEI mandates and advance a far-left social agenda, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has returned the Pentagon to its proper focus: keeping the United States safe by building and training the most powerful and lethal fighting force in the world. While this is good news for everyday Americans, liberal elites are beside themselves at the notion of a Pentagon leader who cares more about winning wars than hosting drag shows.

Hegseth’s most recent triumph came on September 30 at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, where he addressed a room full of generals and admirals. Past military leaders, Hegseth said, had claimed that “diversity is our strength,” “females and males are the same thing,” and “males who think they’re females is totally normal.”

But Hegseth clearly and forcefully laid out a new vision for the military – or, rather, a return to a tried and proven approach. Now, he explained, the military will be focusing on physical fitness and merit. “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses,” Hegseth said in one memorable line. “No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions… As I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that sh*t.”

Every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine in a combat role must meet “the highest male standard only.” As Hegseth told the generals, “this job is life or death” so high standards must be kept.

In another particularly memorable line, Hegseth blasted the fact that service members – whether enlisted troops or senior commanders – are out of shape. “If the Secretary of War can do regular, hard PT, so can every member of our joint force,” Hegseth, who has famously joined special forces units for workouts, said.

“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” he continued. “Likewise, 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.”

Following Hegseth’s remarks, criticism of the military’s refocusing on merit, physical strength, and warfighting versus DEI statements, drag queens, and climate change came pouring in from the left. The comments were as predictable as they were telling.

A Tufts University professor incredibly criticized the “warrior ethos” and “militaristic mindset” of the Department of War. CNN editorialized in its headline that Hegseth wanted “to remake the military in his preferred image” – even though that is the most basic job of any executive leading any organization. MSNBC commentator Michael Steele, meanwhile, said the Secretary of War crossed an “ominous line” and that his “conduct” was “dangerous.”

Another common refrain was that the gathering “could’ve been an email.” But this criticism again misses the point. Hegseth wasn’t just informing military leaders about minor changes in policy. He was telling them, to their faces, that the old way of doing things has been a disaster that they bear responsibility for. He was articulating a complete and fundamental shift in how the military conducts its business. That warrants more than an email.

As even the normally Trump-critical National Review acknowledged, the new rules are “commonsense changes” that “will surely be popular with the troops, who will appreciate the emphasis on hard training and high standards and the sidelining of out-of-shape malingerers.”

In a separate article, National Review editor-in-chief Rich Lowry added that Hegseth is “right about physical fitness,” noting, “combat is an inherently physical activity.”

“The emphasis on fitness is especially important when the recruiting pool, reflecting an American society where 40 percent of people are obese, is in poorer shape than it used to be,” Lowry wrote.

Service members understand leadership begins at the top, so Secretary Hegseth wants to see officers setting a good example by focusing on combat and fitness.

Since he took over the Department of War, young men and women have seen Hegseth as a leader and are joining the fight after years of weak recruitment numbers. In fact, the Marines, Army, Navy, and Air Force have finally all met their recruitment goals for the first time in years.

The Federalist said it is no surprise why.

“Young men,” Shawn Fleetwood wrote, “don’t want to join a military whose commander-in-chief pushes racist DEI ideology, fires them for not taking an experimental shot, and keeps checking his watch as the bodies of their brothers and sisters in arms arrive home in flag-draped coffins — a tragedy which Biden himself is responsible for.”

Instead, these young men “want leaders who love America as much as they do and will stand with them when their backs are against the wall.”

Our brave men and women in uniform are signing up to fight, and possibly die, for their country. They are not interested in sitting through sensitivity training or being told to get in shape by hypocritical overweight officers. What they crave are warrior leaders who will help them unleash their full potential to defend the nation they love.

Matt Lamb is a contributor for AMAC Newsline and an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.