94Ha Viewpoint
In recent years, in pursuit of the goal of “fair competition,” physical fitness standards have been gradually diluted. For example, the Army recently lowered the minimum pass standard for push-ups to 10 and increased the minimum time for a two-mile (about 3.2 kilometers) run from 19 minutes to 23 minutes.
In a statement announcing the nomination of Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and former U.S. Army member, as Secretary of Defense, Trump said: “Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies should take note. Our military will be great again, and America will never back down. Pete will be a brave and patriotic advocate of our policy of ‘peace through strength.'” Trump’s statement expressed his hopes for Hegseth.
But Hegseth’s nomination shocked public opinion. Hegseth has not held any senior positions in the Department of Defense. How can a TV commentator lead a combat force with more than 1.3 million active-duty soldiers? Under the guidance of “America First”, Trump did not want the Secretary of Defense to go to war. Trump 1.0 did not start a war, and Trump 2.0 does not want war when he is in power. But Trump’s conservative philosophy determines that he believes in deterrence. “Seeking peace through strength” is the creed of conservatism and Reagan. Trump wants Hegseth to reorganize the US military and bravely face the upcoming war.
Trump believes that the US military has been weakened by the chaotic “woke” culture. Hegseth is a media person who exposes the “woke” of the US military. Woke is a synonym for the common word awake in African-American English. Since the 2010s, it has been used to refer to a broader understanding of social inequality, such as racial injustice, gender discrimination and the denial of various non-heterosexual rights.
Hegseth, 44, graduated from Princeton University, fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, and kept in touch with the army as a National Guard officer. He was awarded two Bronze Star Medals and a combat infantry badge for battlefield actions. His best-selling book, The War on Warriors, reveals “the left’s betrayal of our warriors.” The book also won Trump’s favor. American conservatism believes that radical “woke” culture and policies weaken the military. These policies are implemented by leaders responsible for ensuring the combat readiness of the military, and the “wokeness” is imposed by leaders in the White House, Congress, and the Pentagon. The promoters of “wokeness” did not start with the Biden administration. For a long time, the “woke” ideology in the military has undermined military readiness in various ways.
For example, in 2015, then-Navy Secretary Mabus flatly rejected a Marine Corps study that concluded that gender-integrated combat formations were inferior to men in terms of movement speed and shooting accuracy, and that women were twice as likely to be injured in combat as men. He rejected the study because it did not fit the Obama administration’s political agenda. In the same year, the Department of Defense opened all combat positions in the US military to women, and Secretary of Defense Carter promised to implement “gender-neutral standards” to ensure that female soldiers could meet the strict requirements of combat qualifications.
Since then, the Army has worked to implement Carter’s promised gender-neutral tests. But the Army dropped the test after finding that women didn’t score as well as men. Now, the Army has no test to determine whether a soldier meets the physical fitness requirements for combat specialties. In 2015, Obama initiated a reform to change the Pentagon’s long-standing policy on transgender people in the military. The incoming Trump administration shelved the reform before it took effect. In January 2021, Biden lifted the restriction just hours after taking office and opened military service to all transgender people. The Biden administration ordered that active-duty military personnel can take leave to undergo sex reassignment surgery and all related hormones and medications, at the expense of taxpayers.
Physical fitness has always been a hallmark of the U.S. military. But in recent years, in pursuit of the goal of “fair competition,” physical fitness standards have been gradually diluted. For example, the Army recently lowered the minimum passing standard for push-ups to 10 and increased the minimum time for a two-mile run from 19 minutes to 23 minutes. The newly established Space Force is considering eliminating regular physical fitness tests altogether. In 2016, Navy Secretary Mabus ordered Navy sailors to adopt new gender-neutral titles such as “medical technicians.”
“War on Warriors” reveals that “awakening” is endangering the US military. The US military is having difficulty recruiting, and there are not enough lesbians in San Francisco who want to join the 82nd Airborne Division. Not only do lesbians not join, but recruitment ads with “awakening” discourage young patriotic Christian men. “Awakening” leads to reverse discrimination, and masculine men are discriminated against. The US military recruits women and transgender people.
Thibaud, director of the US Military Project at the conservative Claremont Institute, published a report calling for an end to the military’s Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity (DEI) policy. Ending the DEI policy will be the first step in restoring the integrity of the military as an institution. The military must be separated from politics and ideology, and its duty is to protect civil society. The current state of the US military is not suitable for modern warfare, and the United States does not have much time left. But the CEO of the left-wing organization Vet Voice Foundation expressed deep concern about the policy of canceling reproductive health care and various gay rights in the military.
Trump promised during his campaign that “we will not have an ‘awakened’ army” and vowed to purge the army of “awakened” generals. Trump pointed the finger at the Pentagon, sparking strong dissatisfaction among US military generals. Trump’s former generals and defense ministers have criticized him most fiercely, with some calling him a fascist and declaring him unfit for public office. Trump was furious and hinted that his former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Milley, might be executed for treason. Some current and former officials are concerned that Trump’s team may target the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Brown.
The “awakening” of the US military will make people outside the United States believe in the decline and corruption of the United States. “War keeps women away” (Editor’s note: a Chinese TV series in 1987), this is the call China got from the Sino-Vietnamese border conflict, and the Democratic Party made the army “awaken” across the border. The greatness of the United States is the ability to revolutionize itself, and it is also progressing in the voices that always sing the praises of the United States. Trump may be leading the United States in a great revolution, and this year’s US election declares the awakening of the people.
(The author is a current affairs commentator in Shanghai)
