1005 Alcyon Dr Bellmawr NJ 08031
+1 484-446-2566
support@bmcpros.com
Quantico, Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump proposed using U.S. cities on Tuesday as training grounds for armed forces and said it was needed by the U.S. military to potentially crack down on what he called “internal invasion.”
Trump suddenly summoned the listener of the military’s brass to Virginia, outlining his muscular views on the military’s role in the internal affairs. He was joined by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who announced the end of “awakening” culture and announced new directives that include “gender neutral” or “male level” physical health standards.
The dual message highlights the Trump administration’s efforts not only to reshape the contemporary Pentagon culture, but also to solicit military resources for presidential priorities and absolute domestic purposes, including correcting unrest and violent crime.
“We should use some of these dangerous cities as a reason for training for the army,” Trump said, pointing out from another perspective: “We invade from the inside. It’s no different from foreign enemies, but it’s more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms.”
After Hegseth called hundreds of military leaders and their supreme advisers to Quantico’s Marine Corps base, Hegseth focused primarily on long-used conversation points that painted military images of the “wake up” policy. He said that if military leaders don’t like his new approach, they should “do the honorary thing and resign.”
Although the meeting between military brass and civilian leaders was nothing new, the gathering sparked strong speculation about its purpose given the rapidity of being called and the mystery surrounding it. Admirals and generals in conflict areas were called in the racial and gender speeches in the military that even at a time of widespread national security concerns around the world, the country’s cultural war has become the former central agenda of the Hegses Pentagon.
“We are not politically correct”
Trump is used to the numerous supporters who laugh at his jokes and applaud his flattery. But he didn’t get that soundtrack from the military leaders present.
In keeping with the armed forces’ nonpartisan tradition, military leaders sit on stones primarily through Trump’s politicized rhetoric, a contrast to the soldiers cheering in Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg this summer.
Trump encouraged his audience at the beginning of his speech to encourage them to do whatever they want. Then he added, “If you don’t like what I mean, you can leave the room – of course, your ranking will be your future.” Some people laughed.
Before Trump came to power, Heggs said in an hour-long speech that the military promoted too many leaders for false reasons because of race, gender quotas and “historic first person.”
“A politically correct, overly sensitive era is not the end of anyone’s leadership at all levels,” Hegseth said.
Trump agrees: “The purpose of the U.S. military is not to protect anyone’s feelings. It is to protect our republic.”
“We are not politically right when it comes to defending American freedom,” Trump said.
Several military officials and the ranking units avoid revenge on anonymity, saying they are unsure how Trump and Hergers’ remarks affect their daily lives in service. Some expressed concerns about domestic unrest as a framework for war, while others also said they found Hergs’ message attracted closer adherence to fitness standards and cut unnecessary training.
Jack Reed, the top Democratic Senator on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, called the conference “expensive, dangerously derogatory.”
“What is even more disturbing is Mr. Heggs’ final atatom to senior American officials: in line with his political worldview or abandonment,” Reed said in a statement.
Trump’s you
The U.S. Army on American Soil
Trump has tested restrictions on a nearly 150-year-old federal law, the POSSE COMITATUS Act, which limits the military’s role in law enforcement.
He has sent National Guard and active-duty military personnel to Los Angeles, threatening to fight crime and illegal immigration in other Democratic-led cities, and has emerged to the U.S.-Mexico border.
National Guard members are usually not exempt from law because they are under state control. But the law does apply under “federalization” and under the control of the president, just like Los Angeles’ objection to the Democratic governor.
Trump said the armed forces should also focus on the Western Hemisphere and boast about military strikes on ships in the Caribbean, which he said was targeting drug traffickers.
Relax discipline rules
Heggs said he was relaxing discipline rules and weakening bullying protections, focusing on removing many guardrails that the military has put in after many scandals and investigations.
He also said he is ordering “the department’s definition of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and deception to enable leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing.”
He called for changes to “allow leaders with forgiven, serious or minor violations not to be affected by permanent violations.”
“People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define the entire profession,” Heggs said.
Over the past few years, bullying and toxic leadership has been suspected and identified the causes behind many military suicides, including young sailor Brandon Caserta, who was bullied to commit suicide in 2018.
Gender-neutral body standards
Hegseth uses the platform to slam environmental policy and transgender forces. The Pentagon has informed “our diversity is our power” from the previous administration, calling it a “crazy fallacy.”
The military will ensure that “every designated combat weapon position boils down to the highest male standard,” Heggs said. He has previously issued directives on gender-neutral standards, even if specific combat, special operations, infantry, armor, pararescu and other jobs already require the same standards, regardless of age or gender. The military department is trying to determine what the next step and what changes may be needed, if any.
Heggs said it was not about preventing women from serving.
“If women can do that, that’s it. If not, that means no women are qualified to do some combat jobs, then go for it,” he said. “It’s not the intention, but it could be the result.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican of Iowa who served in the Iraq War, said Hegseth was “appropriate” and suggested that women should be expected to meet certain standards.
“I don’t worry about that,” Ernst said. “Combat weapons should have the same standards.”
Janessa Goldbeck, who once served in the Marine Corps and now CEO of the Veterinary Voice Foundation, said Hergs’ speech was more about “to appeal rather than to strengthen force.”
“In the 1980s, he never surpassed his concept of resilience,” she said. “He didn’t focus on actually improving the preparation of force, but continued to waste time and taxpayers on his cultural war drama.”
Hegseth’s speech came this week in the face of a possible government closure and he took several unusual and unexplained actions, including ordering the total number of officers and shootings of other senior military leaders.
___
Finley and Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Chris Megerian, Adriana Gomez Licon, Ali Swenson and Stephen Groves contributed to the report.