Can the military court-martial Hegseth? Oh yeah, that is why one of his first moves was to fire the top JAG officers. It was a transparently pre-meditative move to allow him to order WAR CRIMES with impunity. Impeachment proceedings against Hegseth should have begun about the time of the first strikes and double-tap murders on civilian boats off the coast of Venezuela. Of course, Trump likes the bloodlust and pirate mentality with no legal guardrails. In Trump 1.0, Miles Taylor recounted how the "adults in the room" told Trump that he could not just "shoot demonstrators in the legs". I hold the majority of Congressional Republicans fully responsible for letting Hegseth and Trump denigrate and misuse our military in order to engage in bloodsport for the sake of their maladjusted adolescent ego-gratification. Congress has the power to stop the illegal Iranian War through the War Powers Act as well as impeach Hegseth. Not only is the American voting public looking at the Repugnant Party with disgust, but so is the entire world.
Absolutely. A common tactic of toxic personalities in positions of leadership empower is to eliminate dissent and destroy guard rails. Then, empower sycophants who serve as his enablers. Healthy, ethical institutions require accountability. Presently, there’s not much of that.
A disciplined military with good leadership and high morale is a deterrent to Trump's plans of dictatorship. This is why I believe he hired Pickled Pete: To rid the branches of the strong leaders and kill the morale of the rank-and-file. Thus disheartened, they would then be more likely to go along with Trump's plans to declare himself President-For-Life!
I fear that Hegseth's actions are part of a plan to groom the military so that this time when Trump orders them into the streets to shoot demonstrators there will be no senior officers left to refuse. It will all come down to small unit commanders and individual soldiers to say, "Sir, I'm not doing that."
I absolutely agree that both of the commander and chief and the secretary of defense are eroding the guard rails that prevent illegal, unethical, and immoral orders from being obeyed. They are creating the conditions for a culture of extreme loyalty. I do hope and pray that there are leaders who remember their oath to the Constitution and refuse those illegal orders. I also hope and pray that commanders at all levels are having conversations with their officers and noncommissioned officers about unlawful orders in the requirement to refuse them.
This is an excellent sweeping analysis of Hegseth’s dismantling of all of the checks our military had built to engender trust in the US around the world. The wilding military he promotes has led to some the worst military depredations carried out against civilians in history.
This is slightly of topic but motivating much this behavior in my view is Hesgeth’s membership in a far right “Christian “ sect that endorses white supremacy ,black slavery, extreme misogyny, Neo confederacy,opposes our constitutional republic,and drives to have a theocracy. This sect embodies the far right wing element of the right wing NAR movement, popularly known as the Charismatics.Their Church is lead by Rev. Wilson but in my view its beliefs are heretical and in no way are based on the teachings of the Gospel. Unfortunately NAR is well represented in the current government.I think you will find that Hegseth’s belligerent rhetoric, pattern of unethical action is aligned with this dangerous belief system. His aim is to have the military conform to his beliefs rather have his actions support the constitution, the military and the country.
This could lead to some disastrous consequences for our republic.
Thanks for your article, its thoroughness and clarity make it an important read.
Thanks for your kind words. I also appreciate your comment. I believe you are right on target in that his religious ideology is a significant motivating factor. I was ordained in and endorsed as a chaplain by a conservative, evangelical denomination. I grew up in this domination. It was extremely homogenous. I grew up being taught/told what was right. What they said was right involved evangelical Christians controlling the government, saying that the laws and policies should reflect the Bible, meaning their interpretation of the Bible. Much of that interpretation is as you said, white supremacy, discrimination, misogyny, patriarchy, theocracy. This would make us not much different from some Muslim nations. He is seeking to bring the military under the control of his extreme religion. He is doing that through destroying the heart and soul of the military, its culture. I agree, that his actions are inconsistent with the gospel and the true teachings of Jesus. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Yes. We teach our Service members to fight fair, legally, ethically, and morally in order to avoid unnecessary casualties. One category of unnecessary casualties is moral injury, which is the result of engaging in actions that violate ones conscience and more compass. I’m glad that we are not in a ground war and I hope it never comes to that because I would expect many violations of the law of armed conflict, that is, war crimes. I will expect many more events like bombing of suspected drug runners in the Caribbean and the bombing of the Iranian girls school. He is setting an example of undisciplined, rampant, lethality, and blood thirstiness.
Worse, he caters to Trump’s MAGA base by publicly promoting a blood-thirsty Christian nationalism and their extreme allegiance to Israeli interests above those of the US. Zealotry trumps professional competence.
He leaves us to face the coming war with China with nothing in our hands and nothing left in the closet. Under his leadership we really are doomed. We will find ourselves in the Chinese century, a second-rate power, with a future rather grimmer than we once hoped.
I don’t know what was said by the senior leaders that Hegseth fired. I imagine and it’s certainly likely that they resisted the war, knowing that it would make us vulnerable in other parts of the world like Asia and Europe. Trump and Hegseth were more concerned about showing off. Every military strategist knows it is better to deter an enemy with diplomacy and negotiation rather than kinetic force. The Iran war has elevated and empowered Iran, and has given China the strategic advantage as you astutely noted. These two have hollowed out our military and sabotage our credibility in the world.
Why would enter or volunteer to go into the services? It sounds terrible the way our service men are being treated. And Hegseth thought the war was a good idea. We are finding out it isn’t. We have lost soldiers. He had fired the people who knew what to do during a war. He has screwed us royally. What can we do if anything?
Good questions. I have not checked recruiting numbers recently. Imagine the services are having challenges, recruiting necessary personnel. Trump and Hegseth were more concerned about a show of strength than they were about strategic advantage. When a leader is more concerned about their appearance, they exploit others. They eliminate any resistance. What can we do? There are two ways to remove him at this point. Either Trump can fire him or Congress can impeach him. Trump will only fire him when he becomes an extreme embarrassment. Congress will only impeach him when we make enough noise and when the Democrats wIn congressional elections and take control of Congress. Make your voice heard and vote.
Your post again captures the essence of leadership and highlights my experience during my 39 years in the Army and Army National Guard as a senior enlisted non-commissioned officer (NCO).
This is really not about me, but about trying to relate my experiences and how the current fascist regime is undermining our military.
Being a leader is difficult but rewarding, and not everybody, including me, was perfect at it, but I had the opportunity to experience and see firsthand good and bad leaders during my military and civilian careers.
One element you talked about is trust. This is crucial and surely lacking now with the flamboyant idiots, Hegseth/Trump. The Soldiers do not trust them, eroding our military force and their families.
Another issue is culture/values, where again this regime fails. I believe they are war criminals and have violated the Geneva Convention by their killing of "drug dealers". As I said in earlier comments, Hegseth was thrown out of the Virginia Army National Guard because of his extremist views about the laws of warfare and the Geneva Convention, so he never made it past Major - frightening!
Another element is their attack on diversity and "woke mentality". At the end of the day, it's all about the Soldiers who are on your left and right; who do you want in your foxhole?! It's not about if you're black, white, or brown, or what religion you practice; as long as you do your job. It's again about trust: to have each other's back (your 6). That's what counts; that's how missions are accomplished, attaining a common goal by teamwork and trust. Culture, values, and trust are what make our military strong.
They have violated every principle of leadership, and for Congress, much less the American voters, to continue to allow this is shocking. This does not suggest violence, but the need to stand up, protest peacefully within our rights, and then vote them all out.
Thanks again for your series on leadership, so important, and our country needs it.
Dr. Williams, I concluded from *The Pete Hegseth-ification of Our Military* that Hegseth redefines professional survival in uniform. Hegseth has made legal restraint and candid judgment career liabilities by firing military lawyers and promoting ideological loyalists. The Defense Department cannot restore military professionalism by removing Hegseth because political loyalty already governs promotions and assignments. You equip military professionals to identify Hegseth’s loyalty tests as institutional corruption rather than legitimate command authority.
Absolutely, Wendy. Simply removing a toxic person from a position of power does not return the system or the organization to health. When I toxic person in power changes the rules and exerts his narcissism, people in the system or the organization adapt their behaviors in order to survive and achieve. Since he values loyalty above fairness and confidence, people have learned to kiss up to him. That type of behavior will permeate the organization. So it will take some time once he is gone for the leaders to restore merit based, competency informed, ethical processes for selection and promotion. This is really sad to me because over my 30 years in the Army I saw how hard and diligent the Army worked to ensure promotions were fair and mitigated subjective personal bias in performance evaluations and in promotion boards. It really breaks my heart.
Can the military court-martial Hegseth? Oh yeah, that is why one of his first moves was to fire the top JAG officers. It was a transparently pre-meditative move to allow him to order WAR CRIMES with impunity. Impeachment proceedings against Hegseth should have begun about the time of the first strikes and double-tap murders on civilian boats off the coast of Venezuela. Of course, Trump likes the bloodlust and pirate mentality with no legal guardrails. In Trump 1.0, Miles Taylor recounted how the "adults in the room" told Trump that he could not just "shoot demonstrators in the legs". I hold the majority of Congressional Republicans fully responsible for letting Hegseth and Trump denigrate and misuse our military in order to engage in bloodsport for the sake of their maladjusted adolescent ego-gratification. Congress has the power to stop the illegal Iranian War through the War Powers Act as well as impeach Hegseth. Not only is the American voting public looking at the Repugnant Party with disgust, but so is the entire world.
Absolutely. A common tactic of toxic personalities in positions of leadership empower is to eliminate dissent and destroy guard rails. Then, empower sycophants who serve as his enablers. Healthy, ethical institutions require accountability. Presently, there’s not much of that.
A disciplined military with good leadership and high morale is a deterrent to Trump's plans of dictatorship. This is why I believe he hired Pickled Pete: To rid the branches of the strong leaders and kill the morale of the rank-and-file. Thus disheartened, they would then be more likely to go along with Trump's plans to declare himself President-For-Life!
I fear that Hegseth's actions are part of a plan to groom the military so that this time when Trump orders them into the streets to shoot demonstrators there will be no senior officers left to refuse. It will all come down to small unit commanders and individual soldiers to say, "Sir, I'm not doing that."
I absolutely agree that both of the commander and chief and the secretary of defense are eroding the guard rails that prevent illegal, unethical, and immoral orders from being obeyed. They are creating the conditions for a culture of extreme loyalty. I do hope and pray that there are leaders who remember their oath to the Constitution and refuse those illegal orders. I also hope and pray that commanders at all levels are having conversations with their officers and noncommissioned officers about unlawful orders in the requirement to refuse them.
This is an excellent sweeping analysis of Hegseth’s dismantling of all of the checks our military had built to engender trust in the US around the world. The wilding military he promotes has led to some the worst military depredations carried out against civilians in history.
This is slightly of topic but motivating much this behavior in my view is Hesgeth’s membership in a far right “Christian “ sect that endorses white supremacy ,black slavery, extreme misogyny, Neo confederacy,opposes our constitutional republic,and drives to have a theocracy. This sect embodies the far right wing element of the right wing NAR movement, popularly known as the Charismatics.Their Church is lead by Rev. Wilson but in my view its beliefs are heretical and in no way are based on the teachings of the Gospel. Unfortunately NAR is well represented in the current government.I think you will find that Hegseth’s belligerent rhetoric, pattern of unethical action is aligned with this dangerous belief system. His aim is to have the military conform to his beliefs rather have his actions support the constitution, the military and the country.
This could lead to some disastrous consequences for our republic.
Thanks for your article, its thoroughness and clarity make it an important read.
Thanks for your kind words. I also appreciate your comment. I believe you are right on target in that his religious ideology is a significant motivating factor. I was ordained in and endorsed as a chaplain by a conservative, evangelical denomination. I grew up in this domination. It was extremely homogenous. I grew up being taught/told what was right. What they said was right involved evangelical Christians controlling the government, saying that the laws and policies should reflect the Bible, meaning their interpretation of the Bible. Much of that interpretation is as you said, white supremacy, discrimination, misogyny, patriarchy, theocracy. This would make us not much different from some Muslim nations. He is seeking to bring the military under the control of his extreme religion. He is doing that through destroying the heart and soul of the military, its culture. I agree, that his actions are inconsistent with the gospel and the true teachings of Jesus. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
His so-called “warrior ethos” looks to me more like criminal psychopathology.
Yes. We teach our Service members to fight fair, legally, ethically, and morally in order to avoid unnecessary casualties. One category of unnecessary casualties is moral injury, which is the result of engaging in actions that violate ones conscience and more compass. I’m glad that we are not in a ground war and I hope it never comes to that because I would expect many violations of the law of armed conflict, that is, war crimes. I will expect many more events like bombing of suspected drug runners in the Caribbean and the bombing of the Iranian girls school. He is setting an example of undisciplined, rampant, lethality, and blood thirstiness.
Worse, he caters to Trump’s MAGA base by publicly promoting a blood-thirsty Christian nationalism and their extreme allegiance to Israeli interests above those of the US. Zealotry trumps professional competence.
He leaves us to face the coming war with China with nothing in our hands and nothing left in the closet. Under his leadership we really are doomed. We will find ourselves in the Chinese century, a second-rate power, with a future rather grimmer than we once hoped.
I don’t know what was said by the senior leaders that Hegseth fired. I imagine and it’s certainly likely that they resisted the war, knowing that it would make us vulnerable in other parts of the world like Asia and Europe. Trump and Hegseth were more concerned about showing off. Every military strategist knows it is better to deter an enemy with diplomacy and negotiation rather than kinetic force. The Iran war has elevated and empowered Iran, and has given China the strategic advantage as you astutely noted. These two have hollowed out our military and sabotage our credibility in the world.
Why would enter or volunteer to go into the services? It sounds terrible the way our service men are being treated. And Hegseth thought the war was a good idea. We are finding out it isn’t. We have lost soldiers. He had fired the people who knew what to do during a war. He has screwed us royally. What can we do if anything?
Good questions. I have not checked recruiting numbers recently. Imagine the services are having challenges, recruiting necessary personnel. Trump and Hegseth were more concerned about a show of strength than they were about strategic advantage. When a leader is more concerned about their appearance, they exploit others. They eliminate any resistance. What can we do? There are two ways to remove him at this point. Either Trump can fire him or Congress can impeach him. Trump will only fire him when he becomes an extreme embarrassment. Congress will only impeach him when we make enough noise and when the Democrats wIn congressional elections and take control of Congress. Make your voice heard and vote.
😡💔🤮
Your post again captures the essence of leadership and highlights my experience during my 39 years in the Army and Army National Guard as a senior enlisted non-commissioned officer (NCO).
This is really not about me, but about trying to relate my experiences and how the current fascist regime is undermining our military.
Being a leader is difficult but rewarding, and not everybody, including me, was perfect at it, but I had the opportunity to experience and see firsthand good and bad leaders during my military and civilian careers.
One element you talked about is trust. This is crucial and surely lacking now with the flamboyant idiots, Hegseth/Trump. The Soldiers do not trust them, eroding our military force and their families.
Another issue is culture/values, where again this regime fails. I believe they are war criminals and have violated the Geneva Convention by their killing of "drug dealers". As I said in earlier comments, Hegseth was thrown out of the Virginia Army National Guard because of his extremist views about the laws of warfare and the Geneva Convention, so he never made it past Major - frightening!
Another element is their attack on diversity and "woke mentality". At the end of the day, it's all about the Soldiers who are on your left and right; who do you want in your foxhole?! It's not about if you're black, white, or brown, or what religion you practice; as long as you do your job. It's again about trust: to have each other's back (your 6). That's what counts; that's how missions are accomplished, attaining a common goal by teamwork and trust. Culture, values, and trust are what make our military strong.
They have violated every principle of leadership, and for Congress, much less the American voters, to continue to allow this is shocking. This does not suggest violence, but the need to stand up, protest peacefully within our rights, and then vote them all out.
Thanks again for your series on leadership, so important, and our country needs it.
Dr. Williams, I concluded from *The Pete Hegseth-ification of Our Military* that Hegseth redefines professional survival in uniform. Hegseth has made legal restraint and candid judgment career liabilities by firing military lawyers and promoting ideological loyalists. The Defense Department cannot restore military professionalism by removing Hegseth because political loyalty already governs promotions and assignments. You equip military professionals to identify Hegseth’s loyalty tests as institutional corruption rather than legitimate command authority.
Absolutely, Wendy. Simply removing a toxic person from a position of power does not return the system or the organization to health. When I toxic person in power changes the rules and exerts his narcissism, people in the system or the organization adapt their behaviors in order to survive and achieve. Since he values loyalty above fairness and confidence, people have learned to kiss up to him. That type of behavior will permeate the organization. So it will take some time once he is gone for the leaders to restore merit based, competency informed, ethical processes for selection and promotion. This is really sad to me because over my 30 years in the Army I saw how hard and diligent the Army worked to ensure promotions were fair and mitigated subjective personal bias in performance evaluations and in promotion boards. It really breaks my heart.