Details are emerging about the mystery meeting that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has called for all general and flag officers in command positions, as well as their senior enlisted advisers. When the news first broke earlier in the week, the truly ignorant were pushing the idea that this was to plan for a war in Venezuela. Really? You're going to bring in the CENTCOM commander to plan a war on Venezuela, but you're not bringing in the operations officer from SOUTHCOM? How does that work?
There were also the folks who claimed this meeting was some sort of a major security risk because if all those generals and admirals got killed, then the effectiveness of the military would increase by 25 percent...ooops...I shouldn't have said that. I covered that story and my sensing of the reason for the meeting in Panic Seizes Pentagon As Hegseth Calls No-Notice, No-Agenda Meeting of All Generals in Command Billets.
The Washington Post, relying on "multiple people familiar with the event," says the meeting will focus on military standards and the “warrior ethos."
Some Pentagon officials questioned the wisdom of launching a relatively large gathering on short notice to hear Hegseth speak for a matter of minutes, and bristled at the idea that long-serving military leaders — a segment of whom spent years in combat earlier in their careers — needed instruction on how to fight.
“They don’t need a talk from Secretary Hegseth on the warrior ethos,” a defense official said.
The Post goes on to say that everyone being brought together will hear "the first of three short lectures Hegseth will deliver, two people familiar told The Post. The second will be on the defense industrial base, and the third will be on deterrence — planned to be delivered at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California in December."
There is more bellyaching in the Post about the inconvenience and cost, but surprisingly, Politico gets the main idea right, "Hegseth has taken a hands-on approach to personnel issues, making grooming standards and physical fitness a core part of his tenure. The secretary has also focused on what he calls the new “warrior ethos,” which embodies the idea of a more aggressive military."
As an outsider, my view is that the U.S. military, while formidable on the battlefield, is spiritually broken. It has experienced nearly two decades of Marxist social doctrine imposed upon it. It values talent much less than it values belonging to the correct racial and sexual subgroup. Standards exist only to beat you with if you violate any of the liberal shibboleths. The shameful episode of the USS Bonhomme Richard burning down and the USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald collisions (this is not to pick on the Navy) show that we can't do the basics. The fact that we rewarded the guy who left behind evacuees in Kabul to bring back war trophies instead of bullwhipping him out of the installation gates is baffling. The geniuses behind the Abbey Gate horror went on to bigger and better things rather than facing a long stay at Leavenworth.
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The Kabul Mission Begins to Unravel and We Can Expect to See Much Worse – RedState
A military runs on discipline. Absolute discipline. General George S. Patton, Jr., had something to say on the subject.
It mattered to one man: Gen. George S. Patton Jr. He had a lot to say about discipline: "There is only one sort of discipline, perfect discipline."
"If you can't get them to salute when they should salute, and wear the clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?. . . It is absurd to believe that soldiers who cannot be made to wear the proper uniform can be induced to move forward in battle. Officers who fail to perform their duty by correcting small violations and in enforcing proper conduct are incapable of leading.
"You cannot be disciplined in great things and undisciplined in small things. Brave undisciplined men have no chance against the discipline and valor of other men," he said.
In fact, Our Lord makes a similar observation (Luke 16:10): "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much."
This scene from the movie Patton brings it home. It isn't that being in proper uniform makes you better; it is that being in proper uniform teaches an attention to detail that is vital to success.
Both articles, I think, gloss over the fact that the generals are not coming with a battalion of aides and staff officers. They are coming with their senior enlisted adviser. That implies this will be a meeting oriented towards soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and guardians.Hegseth is the only Secretary of Defense in my memory to take on the mantle of leadership of the Department of War rather than acting like some gray little man making counterproductive policies and angling for a job with a defense contractor. To lead, you have to know your subordinates. Reports, telephone calls, and video conferences aren't sufficient. “It’s meant to be an eyeball-to-eyeball kind of conversation,” one person familiar with ongoing discussions said. “He wants to see the generals.”
I'm also convinced that this meeting will be used to emphasize that the inordinate level of non-compliance with directives and malicious compliance that exists in the War Department, which seems to be accepted by the military leadership, cannot continue. I'd expect some unexpected retirements in the next month, and I would also expect to see some of the reduction in the number of general or flag officers that Hegseth has hinted at beginning.
What will emerge from this meeting is a unified Department of War heading in the same direction with the same priorities.
Few things are harder than turning around a failing, but complacent and self-satisfied organization. That is the challenge facing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The military services have been hollowed out through DEI and dysfunctional leadership. The industrial base is dead in the water. Follow RedState for some of the most informed coverage on his efforts to recreate a force in crisis. Join RedState VIP and help continue that coverage. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
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