The new policies, announced at an extraordinary meeting of hundreds of military leaders in Quantico, Va., are an extension of Hegseth's campaign to reverse moves over the past two decades meant to make the military more inclusive of women and minority recruits. He cast the moves as necessary to increase the "lethality" of U.S. troops.
"A few months ago, I was at the White House when President Trump announced his 'liberation day' for America's trade policy. It was a landmark day. Well, today is another liberation day, the liberation of America's warriors," Hegseth said.
"You kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct, don't necessarily belong always in polite society," he added. "You are different. We fight not because we hate what's in front of us, we fight because we love what's behind us."
Hegseth said physical fitness would be prioritized across the armed forces, even if that means fewer women in combat roles, and announced the military's internal complaint and investigations process would be overhauled to eliminate "frivolous" complaints.
"If the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign," he told the crowd of admirals and generals.
Hegseth spent much of his speech focusing on grooming and fitness standards, taking aim at overweight troops and generals and unshaven faces.
"It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of War can do regular hard PT [physical training], so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops," he told the military leaders Tuesday morning.
"Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country [and] in the world," he added. "It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we are."
Hegseth told military leaders that all combat troops would be held to the "highest male standard," with field tests strictly enforced across the service.
The Defense secretary also reinforced new grooming standards he released earlier this month.
"No more beards, long hair, superficial, individual expression. We're going to cut our hair, shape up, shave our beards and adhere to standards, because it's like the broken windows theory of policing. It's like, you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes," he said. "If you want a beard, you can join special forces. If not, then shave."
The Pentagon chief also defended a string of high-profile firings, saying "more leadership changes will be made," even encouraging the assembled generals and admirals to resign should they disagree with his efforts.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
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