Pete Hegseth's plan to overhaul America's military: 'You need to fire a ton of generals'

Across hours of podcast and tv interviews, Army seasoned and Fox News big Pete Hegseth has articulated his program for a "frontal assault" to betterment the Department of Defense from the apical down, including by purging "woke" generals, limiting women from immoderate combat roles, eliminating diverseness goals and utilizing the "real menace of violence" to reassert the United States arsenic a planetary power.

As President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for the Secretary of Defense, Hegseth, 44, could person the accidental to instrumentality that vision, commanding the country's much than a cardinal progressive work soldiers.

An infantry serviceman successful the U.S. Army National Guard, Hegseth deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan earlier leaving the work with the fertile of major, according to subject records. Hegseth has worked for Fox News since 2014, wherever helium co-hosts "FOX & Friends Weekend." Once a professional of Trump's overseas argumentation and subject stances during Trump's 2016 campaign, Hegseth grew to go 1 of Trump's fiercest on-air defenders.

Steve Doocy, left, Ainsley Earnhardt, 2nd left, and Pete Hegseth interrogation Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, right, connected Fox & Friends, Monday, Nov. 18, 2019 successful New York.

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

"Pete is tough, astute and a existent believer successful America First. With Pete astatine the helm, America's enemies are connected announcement - Our Military volition beryllium Great Again, and America volition Never Back Down," Trump said announcing the nomination.

A New York Times best-selling author, Hegseth has often commented connected subject argumentation and suggested 1 of his archetypal orders of concern would beryllium firing immoderate generals who supported the Pentagon's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

"First of all, you got to occurrence the Chairman Joint of the Chiefs and evidently going to bring successful a caller Secretary of Defense, but immoderate wide that was progressive -- general, admiral, immoderate -- that was progressive in, immoderate of the DEI woke s---, has got to go," Hegseth said during a caller interrogation connected the "Shawn Ryan Show" podcast. "Either you're successful for warfighting, and that's it. That's the lone litmus trial we attraction about."

Hegseth had preemptively defended the move, saying it would beryllium a instrumentality to normalcy for soldiers alternatively than a "MAGA takeover."

While Hegseth has described countries similar Russia and China arsenic threats, helium has framed the military's biggest menace arsenic an interior one, arguing that "wokeness" divided the subject internally and created an contented that adversaries tin exploit.

"I deliberation our biggest menace is internal. I deliberation we're committing taste suicide, and we've mislaid implicit absorption connected the basics and gathering blocks of what made Western civilization successful America exceptional, fruitful, prosperous, strong, free," Hegseth said connected the podcast.

Hegseth has projected a wholesale purge of subject officials who person supported DEI policies, urging a "frontal battle close backmost astatine what's been done to this subject from the apical and to the bottom."

"The dumbest operation connected satellite Earth successful the subject is our diverseness is our strength," Hegseth said connected the podcast, arguing that uniformity betwixt soldiers is simply a cardinal to the military's strength.

"Every clip I perceive a subject person accidental [diversity is our strength], I propulsion up successful my rima a small spot more, due to the fact that if they judge it, it shows you however sideways and however indoctrinated they are," Hegseth said connected "The Right Take With Mark Tapson" podcast.

While 17.5% of active-duty subject unit are women, Hegseth has argued that subject leaders should admit that their main constituency is "strong, mean men," rebuffing efforts to diversify the ranks of the equipped services.

"There aren't capable lesbians successful San Francisco to unit the 82nd Airborne similar you need, you request the boys successful Kentucky and Texas and North Carolina and Wisconsin," Hegseth said connected Tapson's podcast earlier this year.

Hegseth was connected the "Take It Outside with Jay Cutler and Sam Mackey" podcast and said that transgender soldiers are "not deployable" due to the fact that they are "reliant connected chemicals" and suggested that women should not service successful definite combat roles.

"Everything astir men and women serving unneurotic makes the concern much complicated, and complication successful combat means casualties are worse," Hegseth said connected Ryan's podcast, arguing that men are "more capable" successful combat roles due to the fact that of biologic factors.

An ardent defender of the president-elect, Hegseth has argued that the United States subject nether Trump was much effectual by posing some "uncertainty" and the "real menace of violence."

"At slightest nether Trump, determination were missiles falling connected terrorists' heads," Hegseth said connected the "Man of War" podcast with Rafa Conde. "They knew helium meant business. Kim Jong Un, adjacent though it didn't work, knew Trump meant business. Fire and fury was a existent thing. Uncertainty is simply a existent thing. The existent menace of unit is simply a existent thing, and nary of that exists nether these globalists who deliberation they tin authorisation their way."

He has besides criticized planetary institutions similar the United Nations arsenic a "farce" and "giant joke" portion advocating a subject argumentation that aims to extremity semipermanent conflicts done decisive action.

"We expect this clinically sanitized, you know, nary civilian casualties. Everything's going to beryllium perfect. No one's going to get hurt, everything. It's conscionable not however warfare operates, and that's unfortunate," Hegseth said connected "The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe" podcast. "But if we effort to bash it with kid gloves oregon with surgical gloves, we're ne'er truly going to get escaped of, really exterminate the enemies that we request to decision to make a bid connected the different side."