5 highlights from Pete Hegseth's speech to military leaders: Done with 'woke garbage'

2. Hegseth defends physical fitness, appearance standards: ‘We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans’

In addition to deriding “woke garbage,” Hegseth unveiled what he described as “the War Department Golden Rule.”

After detailing how “Jesus said, ‘Do unto others that which you would have done unto yourself,’” Hegseth identified the “War Department Golden Rule” as “Do unto your unit as you would have done unto your own child’s unit.” 

“Would you want him serving with fat or unfit or under-trained troops? Or alongside people who can’t meet basic standards? Or in a unit where standards were lowered so certain types of troops could make it in? In a unit where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and war fighting?” he asked. 

“Standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high,” he added, noting that, going forward, “Every member of the joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year.” 

“No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards,” he vowed. “Because it’s like the broken windows theory of policing. It’s like when you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes. So you have to address the small stuff. This is on duty in the field and in the rear. If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave. We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans.”