Defense Secretary Slams DEI and ‘Woke’ Military Policies in West Point Commencement Address

The secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, delivered a fiery commencement address on Saturday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, braving pouring rain to declare an end to what he described as the “slow slide” of the American armed forces. Throughout his speech to the graduating cadets, Mr. Hegseth sharply criticized diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and blasted former military leadership for prioritizing political correctness over combat readiness.“The battlefield does not grade on a curve, and you can’t throw your pronouns at the enemy,” the Army infantry veteran who served in the Iraq War told the newly minted officers. “Combat is the ultimate test, and our best Americans must ace it.”Mr. Hegseth directed some of his harshest rhetoric at what he termed “woke and weak leaders” who he claimed had attempted to transform the historic military academy into a version of “woke Princeton,” his own alma mater. He argued that previous “foolish and feckless leaders” had “embraced the DEI craze and tried to introduce diversity and inclusion studies,” which he blamed for endangering soldiers.“They hired professors who advocated for anti-American ideologies right here in these halls, but no more,” he said. “West Point is set apart. It’s special. It’s above politics. Success here is based on merit. It’s how you perform that matters.”Addressing the graduates directly, Mr. Hegseth pushed back against recent cultural shifts within the armed forces, including the removal of Confederate monuments from military grounds.“You are fit, not fat. You are disciplined, not distracted,” Mr. Hegseth told the cadets. “Many of you, even in your short time in uniform, have endured what I call the slow slide of the U.S. Army. You’ve seen standards lowered, you’ve seen an obsession with race and gender, you’ve seen the watering down of discipline, codes weakened, and traditions tossed aside in the name of political correctness, statues taken down, paintings placed in the basement. I’m here to tell you the slow slide here at West Point and across the United States Army is over.”He also took aim at a frequently used military slogan emphasizing diversity. Calling it “the single dumbest phrase in military history,” Mr. Hegseth said, “Diversity is not our strength. Unity is our strength.”“Let me be perfectly clear, you are not an ‘army of one,’ and you are certainly not an army of woke. You are an American army, an army of warriors,” he added.Beyond cultural issues, the defense secretary pledged to “untie” the hands of service members in combat. “Lawyers don’t run battalions, commanders do,” Mr. Hegseth said, assuring the cadets that both he and President Trump would back them up when they made difficult choices.“No matter what, President Trump and I will have your back when tough decisions are made, especially decisions made in a split second in the heat of battle that air-conditioned offices in Washington, D.C., will never have,” Mr. Hegseth said. “Understand, your hands are untied.”This promise follows Mr. Hegseth’s controversial overhaul of the military’s legal offices earlier this year, which drew sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers who raised alarms over the weakening of legal safeguards.Concluding his remarks, Mr. Hegseth invoked conservative activist Charlie Kirk, telling the cadets, “As Charlie Kirk often said, ‘Remember, always this too shall pass.’ The good times will pass; the bad times will pass.”

Defense Secretary Slams DEI and ‘Woke’ Military Policies in West Point Commencement Address

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