I had the pleasure and honor, in my one deployment to a combat zone, to have served under one of the U.S. Army’s last warrior generals – “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf. His plan for Desert Storm was simple and effective, a plan that would have warmed the heart of General George Patton; we literally held the Iraqi Army by the nose and kicked them in the rear. The execution of the plan was likewise flawless, at least until the political powers reined us in before the job was done – we went in with a massive force, kicked some and took some, and went home.
The American military has suffered a lot of abuse since then, starting with President Clinton’s “peace dividend” and continuing with President Obama’s purge of the leadership and, most recently, Joe Biden’s push to DEI the military. But that’s changing now; on Saturday, we saw the swearing-in of a new Secretary of Defense, one who has smelled the smoke and seen the elephant, and he’s looking at the Pentagon and seeing that a major housecleaning is in order. On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in a statement to our service members, laid out his priorities. And they’re good priorities.
“It is the privilege of a lifetime to lead the warriors of the Department of Defense, under the leadership of our Commander in Chief Donald J. Trump,” Hegseth said in a statement to the military. “We will put America First, and we will never back down.”
Hegseth vowed to promote Trump’s mission of achieving peace through strength in three ways: Restore the warrior ethos, rebuild the military and reestablish deterrence.
“All of this will be done with a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness,” he wrote. “I have committed my life to warfighters and their families. Just as my fellow soldiers had my back on the battlefield, know that I will always have your back.”
“We serve together at a dangerous time. Our enemies will neither rest nor relent. And neither will we,” the Army veteran continued. “We will stand shoulder to shoulder to meet the urgency of this moment.”
That’s the proper outlook. DEI has no place in the military. Our military is not a jobs program for anyone suffering from the mental delusion du jour. It has to be a meritocracy, one based on fixed, unchanging, and high standards – standards not only of strength, skill, and endurance but also standards of devotion to duty, dedication, patriotism, and honor.
Yes, honor. Without a sense of honor, an army is just a rabble. […]
— Read More: redstate.com
