These leftist policies have infected our ranks now for decades: DEI offices in every corner of the bureaucracy, climate change treated as a top three priority, standards watered down so more women could be forced into combat roles, and barracks where women were assigned to live alongside men in lipstick who identified as female.
This was not a military prepared to win. It was a social experiment being forced onto our ranks.
That age is over.
Today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump declared a new direction. Gone is the failing direction of the Department of Defense. Today, we reintroduce the Department of War and a new Golden Age for America's armed forces. Its mission is singular: win America's wars, restore discipline, and unleash the lethality necessary to keep our nation safe.
When I first signed up for the Army as a young cadet at Texas A&M, my Colonel told us, "Your job is to kill the enemy and break their stuff." Sadly, that turned out to be more of a slogan than a reality. The truth was that the Pentagon spent years chasing every social fad instead of preparing us to fight.
We spent time on laborious processes that had never been streamlined and listening to trainings about how pro-life groups were a threat to the country (yes, that happened, I was there.) Now, at last, we have leaders willing to name the rot and root it out.
Secretary Hegseth laid it out bluntly: "The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong thing. In many ways, this speech is about fixing decades of decay...We're ending the war on warriors."
That statement is a seismic shift. For too long, the focus has been on representation quotas, climate compliance, and inclusivity training. Now, the measure will be whether America's fighting men and women can break the enemy on the battlefield. Nothing else.
In another directive, Hegseth was even clearer: "No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusion...As I said before and will say again, we are done with that shit."
Anyone who has served in uniform knows how much time was wasted on lectures that had nothing to do with combat readiness. Imagine unconscious bias training being prioritized on the training calendar over putting rounds down range. Those days are gone.
The message is being heard in the ranks. Another declaration put it in unmistakable terms: "Today, at my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS comes for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest mail standard only because this job is life or death. Standards must be met."
For those of us who served and watched discipline eroded in favor of social experiments, those words are vindication. A soldier in lipstick at morning formation is no longer a sign of tolerance; it is a sign of decay. That decay has ended.
Donald Trump drove the point home in his speech: "We're bringing back a focus on fitness, ability, character, and strength, and that's because the purpose of America's military is not to protect anyone's feelings, it's to protect our republic."
The contrast with the last two decades could not be sharper. From Iraq to Afghanistan, we had the most powerful military in history, yet the Pentagon has spent countless hours renaming bases and rewriting fitness tests. Meanwhile, our enemies in Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran prepared for real war. That era of drift and distraction is now behind us.
The change is total, not partial. As one of the final directives announced, "The new War Department golden rule is this: do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child's unit."
That is how a serious nation thinks about its military. That is how Rome, Sparta, Britain, and America, in their greatest hours, thought about war. Would I want my son in those ranks? If not, it is simply not good enough. I want to be able to encourage my sons to join the military without reservation. I hope this brings the changes to make that a reality.
In his speech, President Trump also announced the construction of more ships and submarines for the Navy, emphasized the rebuilding of the military as a top priority, and stated, "There is no more recruitment shortage." Just two years ago, that seemed like a pipe dream. Today it is a reality.
The military has just one job. Fight and win America's wars. Stand ready to do that job when called upon. And, true to Secretary Hegseth's character, he prayed over the Department of War before closing.
"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. Amen."
This is what the Department of War was when George Washington established it. The sword and shield of a nation dedicated to the Christian ethic and doing what is right.
As a former service member who felt like those ideas may never return, this speech gave me greater hope and energy than anything I have seen so far from the administration.
The Department of War has arrived. And with it, the American Golden Age of strength has begun.
