So what can we really take away from Hegseth's speech yesterday.
Well, on a superficial level, he's a blowhard.
Based on the flag officer's reactions, he's not popular with the Service and we may be starting to see the beginning of a type of green revolt. I don't think they can be counted on to support Trump's war on cities.
Hegseth has a real "kill people and break things" view of the service, which isn't completely unwarranted. Many of the criticism he has of how things have developed in recent decades have merit. Using the Armed Forces as a social laboratory is risky. The transgendered in the Service thing was stupid and did need to go.
Hegseth clearly wants women out of combat roles, but it's not clear at all how far that extends. He's approaching it based on PT requirements, which makes some sense, but which is really a pretty lightweight way to approach the topic And what are combat roles in the current era? What about, for example, radar stations ships? Given the approach, the administration obviously fears really pissing women off.
Hegseth also seems to think that the Service was in the condition it was in 1977 or something. He keeps referencing 1990, but in terms of overall physical condition, these troops are in better shape today than any time in the nation's history.
Part of this is his weird obsession with beards. Military facial hair regulations evolve over time. The no beards in the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force policy is only a little over a century old, and has to do with gas masks. Combat troops have beards by default all the time.
All in all, the entire show could have been accomplished by an email. But he was attempting to rally the troops to his side, at which he utterly failed.
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