Testosterone, No-Nonsense, and Toughness

Pete Hegseth has apparently solved the complicated problem of national defense.

For decades, military planners worried about strategy, logistics, intelligence, training, technological superiority and competent leadership.

Hegseth has streamlined the whole thing into three letters:

TNT: Testosterone. No-Nonsense. Toughness.

Presumably the next aircraft carrier will run entirely on protein powder.

Hegseth has made eliminating DEI one of his Pentagon crusades, repeatedly portraying diversity initiatives as distractions from a proper “warfighting ethos.” Before becoming defense secretary, he said generals and admirals associated with DEI programs needed to go. Since then, the Trump-Hegseth Pentagon has removed a remarkable collection of senior officers, often with little public explanation. (The Guardian)

Among them was Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a fighter pilot and highly accomplished officer whose résumé inconveniently contained both extensive military experience and black skin.

Apparently one of those qualifications became suspicious.

Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as chief of naval operations, was also removed, as was Air Force Gen. James Slife. Later purges swept away additional senior commanders. Critics have warned that the removals risk replacing professional military judgment with ideological and personal loyalty tests. (The Washington Post)

But fear not.

Pete has TNT.

The new Pentagon performance evaluation can presumably be reduced to:

Can you bench-press  225 pounds?

Do you wear camouflage on dates?

Have you ever used the word “lethality” three times in one sentence?

Excellent. Report to CENTCOM.

The irony is spectacular. Hegseth says he wants merit, but if accomplished officers can become suspect because they supported diversity initiatives, merit suddenly appears to mean:

“Highly qualified, provided Pete approves of your politics.”

That is not meritocracy.

That is a fraternity selecting a pledge class.

The American military became the most powerful fighting force on Earth not because everybody looked alike, prayed alike, voted alike or possessed an officially approved testosterone level. It succeeded because it developed extraordinary people, demanding institutions, professional standards and a culture capable of drawing talent from an enormous country.

Competence is tough.

Discipline is tough.

Telling a president something he does not want to hear is tougher.

Firing experienced officers because they offend your anti-“woke” sensibilities?

That is not toughness.

That is insecurity wearing camouflage.

Pete Hegseth may believe the Pentagon needed more testosterone.

What America actually needs is considerably harder to manufacture:

judgment.