Pete Hegseth is a change agent in the Defense Department. Like most institutions, especially highly bureaucratic and hierarchical ones, the Pentagon is inherently resistant to major course-corrections. And few have been more dramatic than those being undertaken by the Trump administration after four years in which the military was subjected to unprecedented, highly politicized and debilitating “fundamental transformation.”

The new Secretary of Defense has been tasked with restoring the warrior ethos to our armed services. That means eliminating the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion agenda that made promotions to leadership a function not of warfighting skills and achievement, but conformity with and championing of what amounts to cultural Marxism. 

At a moment when the prospect of a shooting war looms large, Pete Hegseth needs our support in clearing the Pentagon’s decks for action, not encouragement to those resisting the changes the times require. 

This is Frank Gaffney.