Hegseth Scraps Diversity Policies, Orders Return to Pre-2015 Combat Standards

Excerpted from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s speech to officers at Quantico, Virginia on September 30:

… From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: warfighting, preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit not because we want war, no one here wants war, but it’s because we love peace. We love peace for our fellow citizens. They deserve peace, and they rightfully expect us to deliver.

Our number one job, of course, is to be strong so that we can prevent war in the first place. The president talks about it all the time. It’s called peace through strength. And as history teaches us, the only people who actually deserve peace are those who are willing to wage war to defend it.

That’s why pacifism is so naive and dangerous. It ignores human nature and it ignores human history. Either you protect your people and your sovereignty or you will be subservient to something or someone. It’s a truth as old as time.

And since waging war is so costly in blood and treasure, we owe our republic a military that will win any war we choose or any war that is thrust upon us. Should our enemies choose foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision and ferocity of the War Department. …

Another way to put it is peace through strength brought to you by the warrior ethos, and we are restoring both. As President Trump has said, and he’s right, we have the strongest, most powerful, most lethal and most prepared military on the planet. That is true, full stop. Nobody can touch us. It’s not even close. … But it’s also true because of the leaders in this room and the incredible troops that you all lead. But the world, and as the chairman mentioned, our enemies get a vote. You feel it. I feel it.

This is a moment of urgency, mounting urgency. Enemies gather. Threats grow. There is no time for games. We must be prepared. If we’re going to prevent and avoid war, we must prepare now. We are the strength part of peace through strength, and either we’re ready to win or we are not.

You see, 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.

America is the strongest, but we need to get stronger and quickly. The time is now and the cause is urgent. The moment requires restoring and refocusing our defense industrial base, our shipbuilding industry and onshoring all critical components. It requires, as President Trump has done, getting our allies and partners to step up and share the burden. …

This speech today…is about people and it’s about culture. The topic today is about the nature of ourselves, because no plan, no program, no reform, no formation will ultimately succeed unless we have the right people and the right culture at the War Department.

…The best way to take care of troops is to give them good leaders committed to the warfighting culture of the department, not perfect leaders, good leaders, competent, qualified, professional, agile, aggressive, innovative, risk-taking, apolitical, faithful to their oath and to the Constitution. …

In combat, there are thousands of variables…. Leaders can only control about three of them. You control how well you’re trained, mostly how well you’re equipped, and the last variable is how well you lead. After that, you’re on your own.  Our warfighters are entitled to be led by the best and most capable leaders. That is who we need you all to be. …

For too long,…the military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things. In many ways, this speech is about fixing decades of decay, some of it obvious, some of it hidden, or as the chairman has put it, we are clearing out the debris, removing the distractions, clearing the way for leaders to be leaders. You might say we’re ending the war on warriors. …

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This [Trump] administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the [policies implemented by Presidents Obama and Biden] social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics. No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris.

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The new War Department golden rule is this: do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child’s unit. Would you want him serving with fat or unfit or under trained troops or alongside people who can’t meet basic standards, or in a unit where standards were lowered so certain types of troops could make it in, in a unit where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and warfighting? The answer is not just no, it’s hell no.

This means at the War Department first and foremost we must restore a ruthless, dispassionate and common sense application of standards. I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in combat unit with females who can’t meet the same combat arms physical standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons platform or task or under a leader who was the first but not the best. Standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high. If not, they’re not standards. They’re just suggestions, suggestions that get our sons and daughters killed.

When it comes to combat arms units, and there are many different stripes across our joint force, the era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don’t hurt anyone’s feelings leadership ends right now. At every level, either you can meet the standard, either you can do the job, either you are disciplined, fit and trained, or you are out.  And that’s why today at my direction…each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS, for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only. Because this job is life or death. Standards must be met. And not just met. At every level, we should seek to exceed the standard, to push the envelope, to compete. It’s common sense and core to who we are and what we do. It should be in our DNA.

Today, at my direction, we are also adding a combat field test for combat arms units that must be executable in any environment at any time and with combat equipment. These tests, they’ll look familiar. They’ll resemble the Army Expert Physical Fitness Assessment or the Marine Corps Combat Fitness Test. I’m also directing that warfighters in combat jobs execute their service fitness test at a gender-neutral age normed male standard scored above 70 percent.

It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are.

So, whether you’re an airborne Ranger or a chairborne Ranger, a brand new private or a four star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your PT test. And as the chairman said, yes, there is no PT test. But today, at my direction, every member of the joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year every year of service.

Also today, at my direction, every warrior across our joint force is required to do PT every duty day. It should be common sense, and most units do that already, but we’re codifying it. And we’re not talking, like, hot yoga and stretching, real hard PT and as — either as a unit or as an individual.

At every level, from the Joint Chiefs to everyone in this room to the youngest private, leaders set the standard. And so many of you do this already, active, guard and reserve. This also means grooming standards. No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards.

Because it’s like the broken windows theory in policing. It’s like you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes, so you have to address the small stuff. This is on duty, in the field and in the rear. If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave.

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Any place where tried and true physical standards were altered, especially since 2015 when combat arms standards were changed to ensure females could qualify, must be returned to their original standard. Other standards have been manipulated to hit racial quotas as well, which is just as unacceptable. This too must end; merit only. The President talks about it all the time, merit-based.

Here are two basic frameworks I urge you to pursue in this process, standards I call — my staff’s heard all about them, the 1990 test and the E-6 test. The 1990 test is simple. What were the military standards in 1990? And if they have changed, tell me why. Was it a necessary change based on the evolving landscape of combat, or was the change due to a softening, weakening or gender-based pursuit of other priorities? …

…War does not care if you’re a man or a woman. Neither does the enemy, nor does the weight of your rucksack, the size of an artillery round or the body weight of a casualty on the battlefield who must be carried. This — and I want to be very clear about this. This is not about preventing women from serving. We very much value the impact of female troops. Our female officers and NCOs are the absolute best in the world.

But 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. That is not the intent, but it could be the result. So be it. It will also mean that weak men won’t qualify because we’re not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death.

As we all know, this is you versus an enemy hell bent on killing you. To be an effective lethal fighting force, you must trust that the warrior alongside you in battle is capable, truly physically capable of doing what is necessary under fire.  You know this is the only standard you would want for your kids and for your grandkids. Apply the War Department Golden Rule, the 1990 test and the E-6 test, and it’s really hard to go wrong.

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We are not civilians. You are not civilians. You are set apart for a distinct purpose. So, we as a department need to stop acting and thinking like civilians and get back to basics and put the power back in the hands of commanders and NCOs, commanders and NCOs who make life and death decisions, commanders and NCOs who enforce standards and ensure readiness, commanders and NCOs who in this War Department have to look in the mirror and have to pass the Golden Rule test, my kids, your kids, America’s sons and daughters.

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They were told that we need a green fleet and electric tanks. They were told to kick out Americans who refused an emergency vaccine. They followed civilian policies set by foolish and reckless political leaders. Our job, my job, has been to determine which leaders simply did what they must to answer the prerogatives of civilian leadership and which leaders are truly invested in the woke department and therefore incapable of embracing the War Department and executing new lawful orders.

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You all know this because it’s common sense. The tougher and the higher the standards in our units, the higher the retention rates in those units. Warriors want to be challenged. Troops want to be tested. When you don’t train and you don’t maintain, you demoralize. And that’s when our best people decide to take their talents to the civilian world.

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You are different. We fight not because we hate what’s in front of us. We fight because we love what’s behind us. You see, the Ivy League faculty lounges will never understand us. And that’s okay, because they could never do what you do. The media will mischaracterize us. And that’s okay, because deep down they know the reason they can do what they do is you. In this profession, you feel comfortable inside the violence so that our citizens can live peacefully. Lethality is our calling card and victory our only acceptable end state.

In closing, a few weeks ago at our monthly Pentagon Christian prayer service I recited a commander’s prayer. It’s a simple yet meaningful prayer for wisdom for commanders and leaders. I encourage you to look it up if you’ve never seen it. But the prayer, it ends like this:

“And most of all, Lord, please keep my soldiers safe, lead them, guide them, protect them, watch over them. And as you gave all of yourself for me, help me give all of myself for them. And amen.”

I’ve prayed this prayer many times since I’ve had the privilege of being your Secretary, and I will continue to pray this prayer for each of you as you command and lead our nation’s finest. Go forth and do good things, hard things. President Trump has your back and so do I, and you’ll hear from him shortly. Move out and draw fire, because we are the War Department. Godspeed.

Excerpted from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s Address to General and Flag Officers at Quantico, Virginia, September 30, 2025 published at the Department of War (formerly the Department of Defense) website at war.gov.