Hegseth ordered the higher military schools to focus on “victory” | Today’s news
(Bloomberg) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered curriculum changes at U.S. colleges, arguing that future admirals and generals need an education more focused on winning wars than on academic theory.
“The only question that matters to the American Republic is this: Will it help us achieve victory?” said Hegseth. “Certainly there are many other important aspects to military life: ethics, logistics, administration, diplomacy. But they all serve to win.”
Hegseth announced his plans during a speech at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he said an 18-month review of his office had revealed a “stubborn undercurrent of passive-aggressive institutional resistance” to changes being pushed by the Trump administration.
The entrenched Pentagon chief made the announcement as he faces impeachment efforts in the House and after Democrats vowed to investigate his leadership once they take control of the House and Senate in January.
There are also growing bipartisan calls for President Donald Trump to fire Hegseth, although the president and other cabinet officials have publicly expressed support for him.
“My team, we’re not afraid of noise,” Hegseth told reporters in Rhode Island. “There is partisan noise throughout our city. We are focused on fulfilling the president’s agenda.”
Hegseth’s requested changes may take some time to implement. Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata is to “issue additional implementation guidance as needed” and convene relevant officials “at least every 60 days” to monitor progress and address any obstacles. The memo directs service secretaries to report to Dad.
Among other changes, Tata is tasked with finding alternatives to existing external accrediting bodies for schools.
The changes affect institutions that provide professional military education to middle and senior officers, including the Air War College, Army War College, Marine Corps War College, National War College, Naval War College and the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.
Intermediate education institutions such as the Army’s Command and General Staff College, the Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College, the College of Naval Command and Staff, and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College are also included, as well as joint programs at the Joint Forces Staff College and the National Intelligence University.
Monday’s move is the latest in Hegseth’s effort to overhaul the military education system, which has included banning books on race and gender from Defense Department-run schools on military bases and ordering service academies to eliminate tenure for civilian instructors.
“Our senior service colleges must stop producing theorists whose very first experience of integrating the strategic, operational and tactical realms occurs when they enter the theater of war,” he said in his remarks.
Hegseth said he plans to shift the curriculum to emphasize not just military strategy but execution, and to ensure that most instructors have relevant military experience, including civilian teachers. He also directed war colleges to administer war games or other comprehensive examinations.
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