Hegseth confirms plans to cut 20% of US military’s top brass and ban ‘bearded, weirdos and wimps’ | American military

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed plans to cut 20% of the general and admiral workforce and said “no bearded man, no weirdo, no wimp” would be tolerated in the country’s military.

In launching his latest extraordinary attack on diversity and dismissing reports of low morale within the U.S. armed forces as “false claims,” ​​Hegseth also suggested they were retaining military personnel at “record” rates.

The defense secretary pointed the finger at those aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, following concerns about mental health and supply issues on the aircraft carrier, which was deployed for nearly nine months. About “80% of the forces” on board were retained, he said.

Speaking to junior troops at the Marine Corps base on Wednesday, Hegseth boasted about the anti-diversity policies implemented at the Pentagon by Donald Trump’s administration.

“As you know, your trainings should focus solely on training, preparation, responsibility, discipline and lethality,” Hegseth said. “And when you pursue those goals, you don’t have to walk on eggshells…the complainers, the ideologues, and the bad performers are no longer in charge.”

He added: “But it’s worth repeating, so the fake news community understands. We are no longer the woke department or the weak department. Simple translation of that: no fat people, no trans people, no bearded people, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”

Generals “who clung to the woke department, or who seemed to think that civilian control of the military was just a suggestion, well, they don’t work here anymore,” Hegseth said.

Eight US Navy personnel assigned to the Lincoln have attempted suicide since the start of their long deployment in America’s war against Iran, it was reported last week.

Hegseth appeared to reference the aircraft carrier in attacking the media on Wednesday, insisting there were “false headlines about the length of the deployment, blatantly false claims about low troop morale, or outright propaganda as if written by our adversaries.”

The Lincoln crew, who spent 286 days at sea, disembarked on September 1 at a Thai resort. The crew was scheduled to complete its deployment in May, but it was extended due to Trump’s war on Iran.

During his speech in Quantico, Virginia, the defense secretary announced several new initiatives, including a new Pentagon project that will see Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey — a top Trump donor and ally — and Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, work with the department to study “the future of war.”

The Guardian previously reported how Luckey’s company, Anduril Inudstries, a major defense technology company, received billions of dollars in government contracts over the last year.

Hegseth also took aim at Ivy League universities and liberal arts colleges during his speech – which Trump has regularly targeted since returning to office. The Secretary of Defense called the institutions “woke factories worshiping DEI.” Hegseth is a graduate of Harvard and Princeton universities, both members of the Ivy League.

Hegseth said the Pentagon will now partner with other institutions on its education program. Some of these schools, like Liberty University and Hillsdale College, are known for their conservative values.

Others joining the partnership are Louisiana State University, the University of Mississippi and Tuskegee University.