Hegseth declares an end to 'politically correct' leadership in the US military

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QUANTICO, Va. (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned hundreds of U.S. military officials to an in-person meeting Tuesday to announce directives for troops that include “gender-neutral” or “male-level” standards for physical fitness as well as an end to “woke” culture in the military.

Hegseth said the U.S. military has promoted too many leaders for the wrong reasons based on race, gender quotas and “historic firsts.”

“The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,” Hegseth said.

He said he is loosening disciplinary rules and weakening hazing protections.

Hegseth said military leaders should ‘do the honorable thing and resign’ if they don’t like his new approach.

Hegseth and President Donald Trump had abruptly called military leaders from around the world to convene at a base in Virginia without publicly revealing the reason until this morning.

Hegseth’s address largely focused on his own long-used talking points that painted a picture of a military that has been hamstrung by ‘woke’ policies.

“The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things,” Hegseth argued, before adding that his speech “is about fixing decades of decay, some of it obvious, some of it hidden.”

Hegseth used the platform to slam physical fitness and grooming standards, environmental policies and transgender troops while talking up his and Trump's focus on “the warrior ethos” and “peace through strength.”

He called for other changes as well, including “changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity.”

“People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career,” Hegseth said. "Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes.”

The gathering at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, near Washington, had fueled intense speculation about the purpose and value of summoning such a large number of generals and admirals to one place, with many stationed in more than a dozen countries that include conflict zones in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Meetings between top military brass and civilian leaders are nothing new. But experts say the scale of the gathering, the haste with which it was called and the mystery surrounding it are particularly unusual.

“The notion that the secretary is going to talk to the generals and give them his vision for running the department — and maybe also for strategy and organization — that’s perfectly reasonable,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine colonel.

“What's mystifying is why it's on such short notice, why it's in person and what else might be involved,” he said.

The uncertainty came as the country faces a potential government shutdown this week and as Hegseth, who has hammered home a focus on lethality and what he calls the “warrior ethos," has taken several unusual and unexplained actions, including ordering cuts to the number of general officers and firings of other top military leaders.

News about the abruptly scheduled meeting broke Thursday, and top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed it but declined to release further details.

Trump didn’t seem to know about it when he was asked by reporters during an Oval Office appearance later that day. The Republican president said he'll "be there if they want me, but why is that such a big deal?”

A White House official said Sunday that Trump also will speak at the gathering. The president told NBC News that he and Hegseth would be “talking about how well we’re doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things.”

Vice President JD Vance argued last week that the media had turned it into a “big story” and that it was “not particularly unusual that generals who report to” Hegseth are coming to speak with him.

Italian Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chair of NATO’s Military Committee, described the meeting as unusual and told reporters Saturday after a NATO meeting in Riga, Latvia, that “as far as my 49 years of service, I’ve never seen that before.”

The lack of detailed information has prompted many observers in Washington to speculate about the meeting's focus. Whatever it is, Michael O’Hanlon, of the Brookings Institution, said he suspects there will be a dramatic element that may be "as important as any substantive element.”

“Just the sheer scale makes you wonder what kind of meaningful interaction can occur,” said O'Hanlon, Brookings' director of research for foreign policy. “And therefore it smacks more of theatrics or of trying to impose than of trying to exchange views."

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Finley and Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.