Hegseth defends military reshaping amid war with Iran

Leadership and culture changes

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promoted his effort to reshape the military during what he called “PT at the Pentagon,” referring to physical training. He defended the removal of one in five generals and admirals across the armed services, rejecting the description of the action as a purge and calling it overdue accountability.

Hegseth had previously removed nearly 20 senior officers and the civilian secretaries of the Army and Navy. He also blocked the promotions of several women and members of minority groups.

The defense secretary said the Pentagon was ending diversity quotas, the use of gender pronouns and identity-recognition months. He said the military would instead emphasize what he called a “warrior ethos.”

Former official raises concerns

Frank Kendall, who served as Air Force secretary under President Joe Biden, called Hegseth’s actions a political stunt that would harm the military. Kendall said the armed services do not have an excess of generals or unnecessarily enlarged senior positions.

Kendall also argued that the military’s current challenges require intellectual skills as well as physical readiness. His criticism came as the United States remained at war with Iran, planned to increase its presence in Europe and continued missions in the Caribbean.

Iraq withdrawal completed

The military announced the same day that it had completed a long-planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The departure came more than 20 years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and marked the end of a 12-year military campaign against ISIS.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq described the withdrawal as a victory.