Politics

[sgt_zim]

I could quibble about Homeland Security, but I an stunned by his pick for SECDEF. Hegseth is a Princeton Grad which I guess means he is smart, a Fox talking head, and a major in the reserves with I believe two combat deployments. I am sure he is loyal to Trump and a genuinely nice guy, but what would give anyone the confidence that he is the best choice to run the largest military industrial conglomerate on the planet? With the exception of Noem, I had been genuinely impressed - but this reeks of farce. I may be wrong, but I would guess @WAB would no more turn his business over to him for a month than I would my old business unit. What is worse, who other than absolute partisans, will take this seriously?

Listen to the Shawn Ryan podcast from a week or 2 ago with Hegseth. I think his priority is going to be purging the woke flag officers like Milley and his fellow-travelers.

 

[wesheltonj]

Ugh, Princeton and Kennedy School at Harvard. The only thing missing is time at McKinsey.

 

[Red Leg]

Listen to the Shawn Ryan podcast from a week or 2 ago with Hegseth. I think his priority is going to be purging the woke flag officers like Milley and his fellow-travelers.

And what exactly does an army major and Fox talking head know about the senior leadership of the armed forces? He has no idea how it functions, its relationship to civilian authority, or the industries and the leadership which supports it. I say this as a former US Army O4 who clearly understood is limitations - this feels like a bad joke.

 

[Hunt anything]

The Hegseth nomination is as puzzling as the lady that G H Bush tried to nominate to the Supreme Court. I think I’ll try and look at his qualifications tomorrow when not on my phone.

 

[Hunt anything]

As far as Noem goes she can’t be any worse than the yahoo that’s in there now.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Is Hegseth buddies with the Trump boys?

 

[John Wasmuth]

Maybe, just maybe, he’s smarter than you think he is,

 

[gbflyer]

Hegseth? I read that and headed here immediately. Theres a lot of guys with experience I like to read here. I’m not getting a warm fuzzy.

Edited to say sometimes Trump just throws stuff out there to see what sticks.

 

[cash_tx]

Trump's last cabinet felt like it had a lot of turnover. I cant help but wonder which of these latest picks will stick, and which ones won't.

 

[Red Leg]

This, if attempted, would be a really bad precedent. Trump is here for one term. An external board could just as easily boot everyone Trump deemed appropriate for senior leadership. However badly affected now, this would introduce political chaos to the senior officer promotion system. I have my doubts whether our new SECDEF will have enough understanding to stand up to him.

Trump Preparing Executive Order to Cull the Military of Woke Generals and Admirals

redstate.com

 

[Wheels]

And what exactly does an army major and Fox talking head know about the senior leadership of the armed forces? He has no idea how it functions, its relationship to civilian authority, or the industries and the leadership which supports it. I say this as a former US Army O4 who clearly understood is limitations - this feels like a bad joke.

I know nothing about Hegspeth and this nomination is surprising. America does have a history of individuals with little or no military experience, nor experience in running large organizations becoming SecDef. Generally I would prefer an individual with experience in running a large organization, preferably the founder in the civilian position of SecDef. I wish him the best. His marching orders from Trump has to be massive in depth and breadth.

 

[Hunt anything]

Maybe, just maybe, he’s smarter than you think he is,

I hope so, that being said I’m sure he is smart but to me there just seems something strange about this.

 

[Hunt anything]

Trump's last cabinet felt like it had a lot of turnover. I cant help but wonder which of these latest picks will stick, and which ones won't.

I’m going to think that this term will be different, Trump is a little more seasoned and from what I can tell most are definitely Trump loyalists almost to a fault.

 

[John Wasmuth]

He’s a far cry more organized and proficient than that idiot Austin, and pretty sure he won’t disappear for days on end to have his prostate taken care of……., I for one would have chosen red legs but that’s just me,

 

[Red Leg]

Hmmm - Department of Government Efficiency - so we are going to drain the swamp by creating another department. Well, at least if the Department of Education is in fact truncated all those government employees will have somewhere else to go.

 

[sgt_zim]

This Pete for SOD is something that will come back to haunt this administration. Imagine you are just some enlisted guy considering reenlisting.

That's the problem. The whole military is missing their recruiting goals due to all the woke bullshit. According to what he said on the Shawn Ryan podcast, his priority would be getting rid of the things causing recruiting to be down.

Like it or not, southern white kids are the core of enlisted. How does making adverts for lesbians and whatnot draw those guys in?

 

[Wheels]

That's the problem. The whole military is missing their recruiting goals due to all the woke bullshit. According to what he said on the Shawn Ryan podcast, his priority would be getting rid of the things causing recruiting to be down.

Like it or not, southern white kids are the core of enlisted. How does making adverts for lesbians and whatnot draw those guys in?

I wonder how many ex military would reenlist if the woke/dei agenda was abolished.

 

[Hunt anything]

@sgt_zim , fair point

 

[Red Leg]

That's the problem. The whole military is missing their recruiting goals due to all the woke bullshit. According to what he said on the Shawn Ryan podcast, his priority would be getting rid of the things causing recruiting to be down.

Like it or not, southern white kids are the core of enlisted. How does making adverts for lesbians and whatnot draw those guys in?

You and I are in total agreement in that regard. It is just that the SECDEF has a monumental job that requires his personal efforts to coordinate the Hill, the executive branch, industry, every state governor (National Guard), and a host of international contacts to achieve the goals of the department in a host of different domains. Recruitment is important, but pretty far down the critical actions list for the SECDEF.

I wish him every success.

 

[gbflyer]

That's the problem. The whole military is missing their recruiting goals due to all the woke bullshit. According to what he said on the Shawn Ryan podcast, his priority would be getting rid of the things causing recruiting to be down.

Like it or not, southern white kids are the core of enlisted. How does making adverts for lesbians and whatnot draw those guys in?

My cousins kid is at Ft Bragg or whatever the new PC name for it is. He’s doing Airborne training. When we talked about a month ago that kid was having to get food off base at his own expense, apparently some issue with the mess hall’s, and there were no personal hygiene products…had to cut up his t-shirt to wipe with. Seems like base money is being diverted elsewhere? Sounds like a shit show nonetheless. Someone needs to straighten it out.