Pete Hegseth mandates that all military service members watch his fratty Virginia speech to generals

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered every member of the U.S. armed forces to watch or read his September 30 address to top generals at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, The Advocate has learned. The directive, confirmed by the Pentagon, blurs the line between military leadership and political indoctrination.

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An internal email sent on Wednesday to the 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, a key Air Force installation in Hampton, Virginia, obtained by The Advocate, confirms the order. In it, Col. Brad S. Huebinger, the wing’s commander, wrote that “the Secretary of War has directed that all personnel will either watch the full recording or read the official transcript of his speech and review the policy changes no later than 31 October 2025.”

The U.S. military is the world’s second-largest armed force by expenditure and home to roughly 2.1 million personnel as of June 2025, according to USAFacts. About half a million are uniformed Air Force personnel.

Related: Hegseth attacks transgender service members in speech: 'No more dudes in dresses. We're done with that s**t'

Huebinger added that “we are still awaiting the USAF implementation guidance for the new Department of War policies.” The email included links to government websites where the content is being stored, as well as 23 pages of memoranda.

“The Secretary’s speech was for the whole force, and this memo just reinforces that guidance,” a Pentagon official told The Advocate, but he did not address why all generals and admirals had to come to the U.S. for the speech if it was being widely distributed anyway.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The message, distributed across the wing, shows that Hegseth’s directives, issued in late September, are already being treated as binding orders. Those policies reinstate pre-2015 combat-fitness standards, impose twice-yearly physical testing, and eliminate facial-hair and gender-expression accommodations that had previously covered medical and religious needs.

In the Quantico speech, Hegseth declared the Department of Defense over and announced a return to the “Department of War,” a rebranding he said would “restore clarity of mission.” He accused prior administrations of weakening the military through diversity and inclusion efforts, which he described as “toxic distractions.”

“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, or climate-change worship,” he told the assembled generals and admirals. “We are done with that shit.”

The 45-minute speech blended moral revivalism with combat rhetoric, invoking “peace through strength” while condemning equality efforts as a “cancer.” “The era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don’t hurt anyone’s feelings leadership ends right now,” Hegseth said. “Standards must be uniform, gender neutral, and high. If not, they’re not standards — they’re just suggestions.”

He announced new grooming and fitness mandates, declaring, “The era of unprofessional appearance is over — no more beardos.” His directives require every member of the armed forces, from privates to four-stars, to perform daily physical training and meet rigid body-composition requirements. “If the Secretary of War can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force,” he said. “If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave.” Many Black men previously received medical exemptions from shaving because the structure of their hair causes ingrown bumps, irritation, and infection when shaved.

Related: This week, Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel started the frightening return of the Lavender Scare

A former Fox News host and Iraq War veteran, Hegseth has long positioned himself as an ideological warrior against what he calls “woke decay.” In Quantico, he framed his reforms as moral reclamation. “Personnel is policy,” he said, urging officers unwilling to enforce the new standards to “do the honorable thing and resign.”

Senior military leaders listen as U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30, 2025 in Quantico, Virginia. Alex WongGetty Images

A senior airman currently serving on active duty told The Advocate that the directive “feels like propaganda being forced down our throats.” The airman, who spoke under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the order is widely seen as “a loyalty test.”

“It was an abhorrent speech — one even the generals didn’t seem thrilled with,” the airman said. “You’d think he’d want to move on, but he wants this kind of speech normalized. He wants us to hate our fellow service members for not being ‘strong’ enough.”

The airman, who identifies as transgender, said the “sex-neutral” standards and grooming rules will punish capable troops while rewarding conformity. “I’ve scored over 90 on PT tests before and after my transition, and even I know these new standards will force good mechanics, good nurses, and good people out,” they said. “They don’t care if you’re good at your job. They want a frat of white dudes.”

Brenda S. “Sue” Fulton, executive director of the Women in the Service Coalition and a West Point graduate, told The Advocate that Hegseth’s rhetoric distorts both history and the purpose of standards. “Since women were allowed to fly fighter jets, since women were allowed in infantry and armor units, they have met the exact same standards as men,” she said. “But where is the evidence that our military suffers from a lack of physical fitness? All of our learning from Iraq and Afghanistan is that anytime we fail in battle, it is because of poor leadership and bad judgment. Why are we focusing on his prejudices — beards? — instead of what really matters in war?”

Fulton said Hegseth’s campaign is not about raising standards but dismantling accountability. “Because we should be clear: He is lowering standards,” she said. “Standards of conduct and leadership are being relaxed. He’s firing lawyers, gutting IG investigations, allowing those credibly charged with misconduct to get promoted and take commands, revising rules of engagement so war crimes won’t be punished. Character matters. Discipline and integrity matter. These are the difference between a mob and an army.”

The new order arrives amid an escalation in President Donald Trump’s use of military rhetoric at home. Trump told the generals in Quantico that the U.S. military must be ready to confront “the enemy within” — a phrase he used to describe domestic critics, federal employees, and political activists.

Related: Who Is Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host who doesn’t wash his hands that Trump nominated for Defense Secretary?

Trump and Hegseth have overseen a series of lethal U.S. strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats off Venezuela, with conflicting accounts about how many operations took place. The White House claimed at least six “drug boat” strikes, while Pentagon officials said they could confirm only four, Reuters reports. The attacks, which have killed at least 21 people, were conducted without publicly disclosed evidence that the vessels were carrying narcotics. Legal experts told Reuters the operations appear to test “the limits of the law” and expand presidential authority to use military force in international waters unilaterally.

Hegseth’s order for every service member to consume his speech carries ominous overtones, especially as Trump blurs the boundary between military readiness and ideological loyalty.

“It’s scary how many of these higher-ups are following blatantly illegal orders,” the senior airman said. “These are loyalty tests for the officers and soldiers more than it is a legal test for courts. It’s a test to see if these commanders will follow illegal orders when the president needs them to — and they have every time. With the trans ban, with the national guard deployments, and with the strikes in international waters on ‘drug ships.’

[Trump] doesn’t care about the courts and never has; he cares that people are willing to follow his orders, no matter what the law says.”