At gathering of top generals, Hegseth outlines anti-‘woke’ vision for the ‘Department of War’

WASHINGTON — After summoning hundreds of US generals and admirals to the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia today, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the event to broadly outline his vision for what he calls the Department of War, dismissing Biden-era policies and pushing, for instance, the “highest male standard” of physical fitness for all combat posts.

“Good morning, and welcome to the War Department, because the era of the Department of Defense is over,” Hegseth opened with.

“This is a moment of urgency, mounting urgency,” he later added. “Enemies gather. Threats grow. There’s no time for games. We must be prepared,” he said. “This urgent moment, of course, requires more troops, more munitions, more drones, more Patriots, more submarines, more B-21 bombers. It requires more innovation, more AI in everything and ahead of the curve, more cyber effects, more counter UAS, more space, more speed.”

At the unprecedented gathering of top officers, Hegseth acknowledged he had made some high-profile firings of their colleagues. Hegseth appeared to take a softer line with further firings, saying many were only executing the direction of political leaders at the time. Still, he called on officers who were not fully aligned with the new warrior ethos to do the “honorable thing” and resign.

Hegseth claimed he was targeting “ideological garbage” that had “infected” the department. “No more identity months, DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris. As I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that shit,” he said.

The secretary of defense, who has long taken aim at women serving in combat units, announced elsewhere in the speech that only the “highest male standard” of physical fitness would be accepted for combat positions.

“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,” he added.

In addition to discussing changes to physical fitness standards, Hegseth also announced a push to ban anonymous complaints to the inspector general (IG) since it has been “weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver’s seat.”

“No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complainants, no more smearing reputations, no more endless waiting, no more legal limbo, no more side-tracking careers, no more walking on eggshells,” he told top military leaders.

Hegseth is currently under investigation by the IG for his use of the Signal app to discuss pending US airstrikes against Houthi militants in Yemen.

Hegseth delivered his message ahead of President Donald Trump, who later took the stage to talk about a swath of topics ranging from crime to Ukraine to his predecessor’s use of the autopen to tariffs, in addition to touching on military programs like Golden Dome and nuclear submarines.

“There are two N words and you can’t use either of them,” Trump quipped about nuclear subs.

Trump did not dive into a discussion on physical fitness stands, but did praise Hegseth and back the push for greater focus on “merit” in the military and elsewhere. 

Addressing crime and unrest in the US, Trump referenced his newly ordered National Guard quick reaction force and told the senior officers some of them could have a “major part” in helping to “straighten out” major cities.

Hegseth’s decision to gather that many senior leaders in one location is a highly unusual move, in part, due to security concerns, and the cost and logistics associated with flying them into the nation’s capital. A memo or hosting a secure teleconference is more typical and the sudden summons without a stated reason for the in-person meeting prompted a firestorm of speculation last week when the Washington Post first broke the story.

Palace intrigue over today’s meeting stemmed from a variety of factors including Hegseth’s outing of senior officers, his call in May to cut 20 percent of four-star generals and admirals and even a post on X (previously Twitter) about the Northern Virginia meeting. In that post, Ben Hodges, a former three-star general that headed up US Army Europe, noted that in 1935, German generals were called to a surprise assembly in Berlin and told to swear a personal oath to Adolf Hitler. Hegseth reposted simply writing, “Cool story, General.” No such oath appeared in Hegseth’s speech.

Trump joked with reporters before the speech that he may fire officers on the spot at Quantico, but during his speech praised the audience as the “best of the best.”

This report was updated with Trump’s comments on 9/30/2025 at 10:29am ET and at 11:40am with additional comments from Hegseth. Lee Ferran contributed to this report.