October 2, 2025 • 17 mins
US Army Vet on Pete Hegseth Military Address: 'Best Speech Since Patton – Fat Admirals Sink Ships!'
Al Arabiya English
813K subscribers
Oct 2, 2025 #USMilitary #Trump #Hegseth
In this special segment of Global News Today with Tom Burges-Watson, the Trump administration is moving to revamp the US military.
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gathered top US commanders at the Marine Corps Base in Virginia, outlining new directives that include tougher gender-neutral fitness standards, an end to “woke culture,” and a zero-tolerance policy toward unfit troops.
We debate Hegseth’s controversial address with:
Malcolm Nance, Former US Intelligence Officer
Jack Posobiec, Former US Navy Intelligence Officer and Host at Turning Point USA
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Now the Trump administration is moving to revamp the military.
Earlier on this week, the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,
gathered the top US commanders at a Marine Corps base in
Virginia, outlining new directives, including, in his
own words, tougher gender neutral fitness standards, an
end to woke culture and 0 tolerance towards fat troops.
(00:22):
Let's take a listen. Frankly, it's tiring to look out
at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat
troops. Likewise, it's completely
unacceptable to see fat generalsand Admirals in the halls of the
Pentagon and leading commands around the country in the world.
It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we
are. So whether you're an Airborne
(00:45):
Ranger or a Chairborne Ranger, abrand new private or a four-star
general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and
pass your PT test. Pete Higgseth speaking there.
Well, he also argues that many offers have been officers have
been promoted on the grounds of their race, gender or what he
calls historic firsts. Well, he insists that the era of
(01:05):
political correctness must come to an end.
This administration has done a great deal from day one to
remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic
ideological garbage that had infected our department to RIP
out the politics. No more identity months, DEI
(01:27):
offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship.
No more division, distraction orgender delusions.
No more debris. As I've said before and will say
again, we are done with that. Well, joining me now to discuss
all of this, Malcolm Nance, a former U.S. intelligence
(01:49):
officer. I'm also joined by Jack Pasobic,
who's AUS veteran Republican political operator, operative
and author of Citizens for Trump.
Thank you both very much indeed for taking the time to speak to
us. Jack, let me start by asking
you. We just heard some clips of the
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth there talking to
hundreds of generals and Admirals in Virginia on Tuesday.
(02:12):
He said the military had lost its way.
It needs a shake up. Amongst other things, he said
it's too woke and too fat. Has he got a point?
Look, I think this was the best speech the US military has heard
since General Patton. I mean, standards need to be
uniform across the force. And whether that be a person of
(02:32):
any background, regardless of what position you're in, you
need to meet the standard. That is what military excellence
is all about. This is not a partisan issue.
Everyone should be held to the same standards.
And that kind of excellence can be returned through the national
security gains for the American people.
Look and he he talks about people being overweight.
We by General Miley, who you can't find a single picture of
(02:54):
this guy ever doing physical fitness, doing any PT and it's,
it's real simple. A fat general can't March and a
fat emerald is going to sink theship.
OK, plenty to get us started with Malcolm.
Feel free to respond to that. I just want to ask you as well
how these comments by peak headset have gone down.
(03:14):
I mean, he was, after all, talking to the top brass, wasn't
he? Yeah, he was talking to the top
brass and right next to every Admiral or general, there was a
person like me. I was senior enlisted at senior
chief Petty Officer that is one step below Sergeant major, and
they had all the Sergeant majorsof every command there.
(03:35):
We are the people who have to understand and and and respond
to those standards. Let me put something very clear,
all right? I spent 20 years in the Navy.
My family put 152 years in the armed forces of the United
States collectively. That was one of the most
ridiculous speeches ever done. It was not equal to patent.
It was not equal to General Schwarzkopf's character and
(03:58):
competence. It wasn't even equal to the rank
of major that he had. He was lecturing people that had
the combined experience of 64,000 years in the armed
forces. That was 1600 people with 20
years experience. Setting a standard is one thing,
(04:19):
but to have a guy who never met the standard himself?
Well then all he's going to do is degrade the force.
OK, Jack, lots for you to react to that.
I mean, how's Malcolm? Got a point.
These were generals and Admiralsbeing addressed by a man of 45
who made it to the rank of major.
Did he strike the wrong tone? Well, I was, I was listening to
(04:39):
Malcolm's retort there and I couldn't find him actually make
any substantive disagreements with the speech.
He made a lot of personal attacks.
But at the end of the day, it was all about applying
standards. And that's right, Those
standards should be applied to the war secretary as well, as
well as his command as well as his staff.
If he's going to be setting standards, he absolutely should
follow them. And I'd more than let you see
(05:01):
him do that, by the way, all thetime he goes out, he does the PT
with his troops. He's there all the time with
people when he goes and visits, anytime he conducts visit, he's
out there doing the PT. So when it comes to holding
yourself to the standard, I think he's done that.
I think he's been doing that. If he didn't do that for one
day, I'd certainly be the first one to say something.
But at the end of the day, this is about applying uniform
(05:22):
standards. And we all know, we all know.
You can just look at a picture of General Miley and say, you
know something. We've gotten away from our
standards. I also like the fact now Malcolm
and I, we both, we're both sporting beards right now, but
this is something that's gotten a little bit, a little bit out
of hand in the military where people are getting beards all
the time. Grooming standards have gone
down. And I liked what he said.
(05:42):
I appreciate what he said about that, that it starts with the
little things. It starts with the little
standards, physical fitness, grooming, that if I was in
uniform, I'd be, I'd have to shave the beard.
That's just what it is. My hair, probably, I'd say mouth
when ice hairs are about, about,about uniform standard right
now. But again, this is part and
parcel being in the military, holding yourself to the
standard. So when when Malcolm said he
(06:04):
agreed with that, I would say agree with him.
OK, Malcolm, I mean, lots to talk about here.
I mean, this issue of weight andfitness very much the headlines
from all of this. So let's stay with sort of the
weight and fitness dimension. I mean, he said.
It's unacceptable to see fat generals and Admirals in the
halls of the Pentagon. Let me put it to you, Malcolm.
(06:25):
Shouldn't those people be setting an example?
Well, sure, they should be setting an example, but I just
want to call attention to some things that perhaps the
Secretary of Defense, right by legislation, he is the Secretary
of Defense seems to miss 1 He has never been pregnant.
And we have a force in which we have women who are skilled
(06:47):
professionals who carry out their operations, who during
pregnancy may gain a little weight.
We have people who are on profiles because of medical
disabilities. We have soldiers who are going
through cancer treatment that can add up to 30 lbs.
To you, General Miley, who was command, who was the chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, If you look at his chest and his
(07:09):
shoulders, he ran some of the largest special operations units
in American history. He met the physical standard at
that time. We have generals right now who
can go out and PT with the best of them.
But you know what that's not doing?
It is making China laugh at us while they outpace us in
shipbuilding, while Pete Hagsethgoes out and does PT for an hour
(07:30):
in the morning, poorly, I might add, and tries to worry about
what we look like. We are not here. the US armed
forces has never been in armed forces of marching.
And look, it's always been a force of professionalism and
lethality. And what he's playing is a Fox
News host game when at a time weneed to make sure that our force
(07:52):
is actually professional. And what he wants to do is he
wants to cut this out. I don't know, take us back to a
world before 1948 where there are no blacks, there are no
women, and there are no Asians, and make our force not leaner,
stupider, younger, in a world where a guy who's 25, I'm sorry,
4550 kilograms can wipe out a special forces platoon with a
(08:16):
PlayStation drone handle. OK, Jack, I mean, feel free to
comment on anything that Malcolmjust said there.
And I also want to ask you, are they really so very many
overweight officers out there? I mean apart from General Miley,
I mean no one seems to have comeup with any other specific
examples here. Well, I, I, I can find plenty of
(08:36):
examples. You just, there's, there's
entire Facebook pages that are, that are dedicated to, to this
sort of thing. And that whole TikTok video.
Well, when, you know, when I wasin it was more Facebook, but
nowadays TikTok, you can find itall over the place, video after
video of this, which I'm, I'm really confused why we even
allow TikTok, by the way, used in so many military
installations. You know, Malcolm mentioned
China and I think that's a greatexample.
(08:57):
I I also agree that China is ourour biggest, your peer
competitor when it comes to that.
And having both served in the Navy, you know, we really look
to the issues that Seventh Fleetis having, the mishaps that
we've been having in 7th Fleet. And this starts at the lower
levels, it starts at the deck plate level.
If you're taking care of yourself, that if you're not
taking care of yourself, how canyou take care of your ship?
If you're not taking care of your ship, how can you take care
(09:19):
of your fleet? If you're not taking care of
your fleet, how can you defend against China?
Look, China maintains rigorous fitness standards.
I've served, I've focused on China.
That was my main focus when I was in there.
And they maintain those standards like clockwork.
And if anyone has a problem, they will get booted down.
All we're doing is saying we're going to get back to the
(09:40):
fighting stands that America wasin.
Let's go back to World War 2GO back and look at those guys when
they were signing up, when they were going on the Navy ships
over to fight the last Asian power that we fought in the
Pacific, which of course was Japan.
You're you don't see too many fat guys when you're looking at
the storm in the beaches of Iwo Jima and some and Guam and some
of the other island hopping Saipan and others.
So I think it really actually isall about taking care of
(10:03):
ourselves and maintaining those standards from the deck plate
level on up so that we're makingsure that we're paying attention
to detail and we're using that attention to detail not just on
ourselves, but in our work and others.
It's about creating that cultureof excellence.
And by the way, that includes anyone who is welcome to join in
in that culture of excellence, regardless of background.
(10:24):
All you got to do is meet the standard.
OK, how, what was the counter argument here, Malcolm?
I mean, it is about the little things, isn't it?
It's sort of a bit like the broken wind and window theory
that if you've overlooked the little things, everything gets a
bit sloppy, and that that goes against sort of military
discipline and military trainingin in in most countries, doesn't
it? No, sure.
(10:47):
That's a standard. And we have all had met the
standards of uniform and discipline.
That's why we're in the armed forces.
That's why we can do what we cando.
But you know, if you look back his argument about World War 2,
the median age of survival was 65 years old.
The average person there had a body fat of like 9 or 10%
because they had just come out of the Great Depression.
(11:07):
You can't put the standards of 2025 to a standard from 85 years
ago and expect these things to change.
We have soldiers sailing, there's airmen and marines who
come from a world where they have less education.
They come from a world where they have a fatter diet because
of the of the way that Americanseat.
It's different in Europe as well.
(11:28):
But I have had fats. When I was in the Ukrainian
army, I had fat 60 year old Ukrainians right when the Hero
of Ukraine award we had drone operators who were 19 years old
with 5% body fat right? Racking up kills by the
hundreds. This is a different world and
for the fact that Pete Hagseth, a man who never met the standard
(11:50):
right, this guy shouldn't be in the job.
He's not qualified. He was picked out of ATV show
lineup because he looks like he's the kind of guy he's
talking about, you know, removing, you know, listening to
the wisdom of EE sixes as opposed to the E sevens, eights
and nines my rank area where we are the solid body of all
(12:11):
knowledge in the armed forces and ignoring the six, you know,
you know, 32,000 collective years of generals.
This guy should never has been chosen for the job.
And the fact that he chose to focus on this disobeying the
laws of war, relaxing the rules of engagement so that we can go
(12:32):
out and kill for a president that has said that they are
going to start withdrawing from Asia in the Pacific and focusing
on bringing the armed forces to American cities.
This shows you this arm, this White House, this Secretary of
Defense is lost. He doesn't even know what the
job is. OK, Jack, how do you respond to
that? And, and also picking up on this
next sort of chapter of the discussion, which is the the
(12:54):
rules of engagement that Pete Hegseth talked about and making
soldiers more lethal. I think he he used the word
increasing their lethality. What What are your thoughts on
that? I couldn't agree more.
Increasing lethality is the entire primary purpose of having
a standing army. You can go all the way back to
the days of the initial debates about this with Washington and
(13:15):
Jefferson and Hamilton and, you know, sort of the questions
about whether or not we should have a standing army.
And that of course is the purpose, the defense of the
homeland, the primary purpose ofthat.
And yes, of course, you will need a military that is able to
carry out that mission both withthe technological ability and on
the ground ability. If you're sending in, you know,
a QRF, you're sending in a soft unit.
You want to make sure those guysare the best of the best.
(13:36):
And then and that their support staff from the logistics to
supplies to medical, to all the intelligence all the way down
are also the best of the best. And that certainly starts
withholding a standard. And so this is something where
I'm, I'm, I'm afraid I just can't, I can't let it go.
We need to maintain the standards.
The standards have gotten LAX. We've seen mishaps in 7th Fleet
(13:56):
in the Asia Pacific region and we've seen mishaps in other
place, Certainly the biggest, ofcourse, being the disastrous
withdrawal of Afghanistan, whichdid take place under General
Miley. And I think it's I think it's a
a cop out to say that there's noconnection here between the LAX
standards and these unfortunate military scandals, failures and
mishaps that we've seen in the prior administration.
(14:17):
It's just as simple as that. And now so you mentioned, you
know, you mentioned sort of changing, you know, change the
subject back towards rules of engagement.
Look, it's it's very simple. The rules of engagement United
States military defense of the homeland slit written right into
the Constitution. OK.
But but just staying with you, Jack, what's your understanding?
I mean is, is that maximum lethality more of a kind of kill
(14:39):
now ask later approach? Is that what it is?
Well, I, I, I, I'd like to define the the parameters of
what exactly we're we're talkingabout.
Certainly the military has a range of options that are
available, and certainly different missions depend on
different things. OK, but what I was talking about
is when when Heck said said no more politically correct,
overbearing rules of engagement,just common sense maximum
(15:00):
lethality. I mean, Malcolm, what's your
interpretation of that? Let me tell you something.
I've served in the armed forces of two nations, right?
With exception. Right now, the eastern
battlefront of Ukraine, which has without any question the
greatest lethality on this planet right now in practice,
mainly because of their drones and the skill of the Ukrainian
(15:22):
army as they've developed over three years. the United States
armed Forces are the single mostlethal force on this planet.
And it's not because of PT standard.
It's because the three things that Pete Hagseth seems to hate,
the diversity of the force and it's MAT and it's thought the
equality of those, those soldiers and knowing that each
(15:44):
of them meets those standards and will be judged by those
standards and will be respected for what they bring to the
force, right? The inclusion of all thoughts,
minds, ranks and positions into the fighting force and bringing
that to the battlefront. That is where America's
lethality has been traditionallysince the founding of this
(16:06):
nation. OK.
And just lastly, I mean, let me turn to you, Jack.
I mean, one thing we heard Pete Hagsett say there in Virginia
was soldiers. Officers who disagree with what
he said there should quote, do the honourable thing and resign.
I mean, what? What's been the reaction?
Do we expect a backlash here anda spate of resignations?
No. I don't think you'll see
(16:27):
resignations. I mean, when someone's been in
that long, they're, they're really focused on their pension,
they're focused on their career afterwards.
So their prospects regarding theRolodex, defense contractors,
these types of things, the typesof positions that they'll get.
But the end of the day, here's what it all comes down to.
And you have a standard of lethality that should be first
and foremost, I want my militaryto be the most fearsome,
(16:50):
terrifying fighting machine on the face of the planet.
And you know why? The more terrifying my military
is, the more terrifying and and scared the rest of the world is
of my military, the less chance that anyone is going to pick up
a gun or a boat or a missile or a bomb or whatever it is and try
to come after my family, my wife, my children.
(17:13):
That's the purpose of my military.
And so that's why I support PeakHeadset, because I want my
military to terrify the rest of the world from even thinking
about messing with the United States of America.
OK. Jack Pacific, thank you very
much indeed for your time. Thanks for all the guests as
well. Malcolm Nance, Thank you both
very much indeed.
Now the Trump administration is moving to revamp the military.
Earlier on this week, the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,
gathered the top US commanders at a Marine Corps base in
Virginia, outlining new directives, including, in his
own words, tougher gender neutral fitness standards, an
end to woke culture and 0 tolerance towards fat troops.
(00:22):
Let's take a listen. Frankly, it's tiring to look out
at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat
troops. Likewise, it's completely
unacceptable to see fat generalsand Admirals in the halls of the
Pentagon and leading commands around the country in the world.
It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we
are. So whether you're an Airborne
(00:45):
Ranger or a Chairborne Ranger, abrand new private or a four-star
general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and
pass your PT test. Pete Higgseth speaking there.
Well, he also argues that many offers have been officers have
been promoted on the grounds of their race, gender or what he
calls historic firsts. Well, he insists that the era of
(01:05):
political correctness must come to an end.
This administration has done a great deal from day one to
remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic
ideological garbage that had infected our department to RIP
out the politics. No more identity months, DEI
(01:27):
offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship.
No more division, distraction orgender delusions.
No more debris. As I've said before and will say
again, we are done with that. Well, joining me now to discuss
all of this, Malcolm Nance, a former U.S. intelligence
(01:49):
officer. I'm also joined by Jack Pasobic,
who's AUS veteran Republican political operator, operative
and author of Citizens for Trump.
Thank you both very much indeed for taking the time to speak to
us. Jack, let me start by asking
you. We just heard some clips of the
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth there talking to
hundreds of generals and Admirals in Virginia on Tuesday.
(02:12):
He said the military had lost its way.
It needs a shake up. Amongst other things, he said
it's too woke and too fat. Has he got a point?
Look, I think this was the best speech the US military has heard
since General Patton. I mean, standards need to be
uniform across the force. And whether that be a person of
(02:32):
any background, regardless of what position you're in, you
need to meet the standard. That is what military excellence
is all about. This is not a partisan issue.
Everyone should be held to the same standards.
And that kind of excellence can be returned through the national
security gains for the American people.
Look and he he talks about people being overweight.
We by General Miley, who you can't find a single picture of
(02:54):
this guy ever doing physical fitness, doing any PT and it's,
it's real simple. A fat general can't March and a
fat emerald is going to sink theship.
OK, plenty to get us started with Malcolm.
Feel free to respond to that. I just want to ask you as well
how these comments by peak headset have gone down.
(03:14):
I mean, he was, after all, talking to the top brass, wasn't
he? Yeah, he was talking to the top
brass and right next to every Admiral or general, there was a
person like me. I was senior enlisted at senior
chief Petty Officer that is one step below Sergeant major, and
they had all the Sergeant majorsof every command there.
(03:35):
We are the people who have to understand and and and respond
to those standards. Let me put something very clear,
all right? I spent 20 years in the Navy.
My family put 152 years in the armed forces of the United
States collectively. That was one of the most
ridiculous speeches ever done. It was not equal to patent.
It was not equal to General Schwarzkopf's character and
(03:58):
competence. It wasn't even equal to the rank
of major that he had. He was lecturing people that had
the combined experience of 64,000 years in the armed
forces. That was 1600 people with 20
years experience. Setting a standard is one thing,
(04:19):
but to have a guy who never met the standard himself?
Well then all he's going to do is degrade the force.
OK, Jack, lots for you to react to that.
I mean, how's Malcolm? Got a point.
These were generals and Admiralsbeing addressed by a man of 45
who made it to the rank of major.
Did he strike the wrong tone? Well, I was, I was listening to
(04:39):
Malcolm's retort there and I couldn't find him actually make
any substantive disagreements with the speech.
He made a lot of personal attacks.
But at the end of the day, it was all about applying
standards. And that's right, Those
standards should be applied to the war secretary as well, as
well as his command as well as his staff.
If he's going to be setting standards, he absolutely should
follow them. And I'd more than let you see
(05:01):
him do that, by the way, all thetime he goes out, he does the PT
with his troops. He's there all the time with
people when he goes and visits, anytime he conducts visit, he's
out there doing the PT. So when it comes to holding
yourself to the standard, I think he's done that.
I think he's been doing that. If he didn't do that for one
day, I'd certainly be the first one to say something.
But at the end of the day, this is about applying uniform
(05:22):
standards. And we all know, we all know.
You can just look at a picture of General Miley and say, you
know something. We've gotten away from our
standards. I also like the fact now Malcolm
and I, we both, we're both sporting beards right now, but
this is something that's gotten a little bit, a little bit out
of hand in the military where people are getting beards all
the time. Grooming standards have gone
down. And I liked what he said.
(05:42):
I appreciate what he said about that, that it starts with the
little things. It starts with the little
standards, physical fitness, grooming, that if I was in
uniform, I'd be, I'd have to shave the beard.
That's just what it is. My hair, probably, I'd say mouth
when ice hairs are about, about,about uniform standard right
now. But again, this is part and
parcel being in the military, holding yourself to the
standard. So when when Malcolm said he
(06:04):
agreed with that, I would say agree with him.
OK, Malcolm, I mean, lots to talk about here.
I mean, this issue of weight andfitness very much the headlines
from all of this. So let's stay with sort of the
weight and fitness dimension. I mean, he said.
It's unacceptable to see fat generals and Admirals in the
halls of the Pentagon. Let me put it to you, Malcolm.
(06:25):
Shouldn't those people be setting an example?
Well, sure, they should be setting an example, but I just
want to call attention to some things that perhaps the
Secretary of Defense, right by legislation, he is the Secretary
of Defense seems to miss 1 He has never been pregnant.
And we have a force in which we have women who are skilled
(06:47):
professionals who carry out their operations, who during
pregnancy may gain a little weight.
We have people who are on profiles because of medical
disabilities. We have soldiers who are going
through cancer treatment that can add up to 30 lbs.
To you, General Miley, who was command, who was the chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, If you look at his chest and his
(07:09):
shoulders, he ran some of the largest special operations units
in American history. He met the physical standard at
that time. We have generals right now who
can go out and PT with the best of them.
But you know what that's not doing?
It is making China laugh at us while they outpace us in
shipbuilding, while Pete Hagsethgoes out and does PT for an hour
(07:30):
in the morning, poorly, I might add, and tries to worry about
what we look like. We are not here. the US armed
forces has never been in armed forces of marching.
And look, it's always been a force of professionalism and
lethality. And what he's playing is a Fox
News host game when at a time weneed to make sure that our force
(07:52):
is actually professional. And what he wants to do is he
wants to cut this out. I don't know, take us back to a
world before 1948 where there are no blacks, there are no
women, and there are no Asians, and make our force not leaner,
stupider, younger, in a world where a guy who's 25, I'm sorry,
4550 kilograms can wipe out a special forces platoon with a
(08:16):
PlayStation drone handle. OK, Jack, I mean, feel free to
comment on anything that Malcolmjust said there.
And I also want to ask you, are they really so very many
overweight officers out there? I mean apart from General Miley,
I mean no one seems to have comeup with any other specific
examples here. Well, I, I, I can find plenty of
(08:36):
examples. You just, there's, there's
entire Facebook pages that are, that are dedicated to, to this
sort of thing. And that whole TikTok video.
Well, when, you know, when I wasin it was more Facebook, but
nowadays TikTok, you can find itall over the place, video after
video of this, which I'm, I'm really confused why we even
allow TikTok, by the way, used in so many military
installations. You know, Malcolm mentioned
China and I think that's a greatexample.
(08:57):
I I also agree that China is ourour biggest, your peer
competitor when it comes to that.
And having both served in the Navy, you know, we really look
to the issues that Seventh Fleetis having, the mishaps that
we've been having in 7th Fleet. And this starts at the lower
levels, it starts at the deck plate level.
If you're taking care of yourself, that if you're not
taking care of yourself, how canyou take care of your ship?
If you're not taking care of your ship, how can you take care
(09:19):
of your fleet? If you're not taking care of
your fleet, how can you defend against China?
Look, China maintains rigorous fitness standards.
I've served, I've focused on China.
That was my main focus when I was in there.
And they maintain those standards like clockwork.
And if anyone has a problem, they will get booted down.
All we're doing is saying we're going to get back to the
(09:40):
fighting stands that America wasin.
Let's go back to World War 2GO back and look at those guys when
they were signing up, when they were going on the Navy ships
over to fight the last Asian power that we fought in the
Pacific, which of course was Japan.
You're you don't see too many fat guys when you're looking at
the storm in the beaches of Iwo Jima and some and Guam and some
of the other island hopping Saipan and others.
So I think it really actually isall about taking care of
(10:03):
ourselves and maintaining those standards from the deck plate
level on up so that we're makingsure that we're paying attention
to detail and we're using that attention to detail not just on
ourselves, but in our work and others.
It's about creating that cultureof excellence.
And by the way, that includes anyone who is welcome to join in
in that culture of excellence, regardless of background.
(10:24):
All you got to do is meet the standard.
OK, how, what was the counter argument here, Malcolm?
I mean, it is about the little things, isn't it?
It's sort of a bit like the broken wind and window theory
that if you've overlooked the little things, everything gets a
bit sloppy, and that that goes against sort of military
discipline and military trainingin in in most countries, doesn't
it? No, sure.
(10:47):
That's a standard. And we have all had met the
standards of uniform and discipline.
That's why we're in the armed forces.
That's why we can do what we cando.
But you know, if you look back his argument about World War 2,
the median age of survival was 65 years old.
The average person there had a body fat of like 9 or 10%
because they had just come out of the Great Depression.
(11:07):
You can't put the standards of 2025 to a standard from 85 years
ago and expect these things to change.
We have soldiers sailing, there's airmen and marines who
come from a world where they have less education.
They come from a world where they have a fatter diet because
of the of the way that Americanseat.
It's different in Europe as well.
(11:28):
But I have had fats. When I was in the Ukrainian
army, I had fat 60 year old Ukrainians right when the Hero
of Ukraine award we had drone operators who were 19 years old
with 5% body fat right? Racking up kills by the
hundreds. This is a different world and
for the fact that Pete Hagseth, a man who never met the standard
(11:50):
right, this guy shouldn't be in the job.
He's not qualified. He was picked out of ATV show
lineup because he looks like he's the kind of guy he's
talking about, you know, removing, you know, listening to
the wisdom of EE sixes as opposed to the E sevens, eights
and nines my rank area where we are the solid body of all
(12:11):
knowledge in the armed forces and ignoring the six, you know,
you know, 32,000 collective years of generals.
This guy should never has been chosen for the job.
And the fact that he chose to focus on this disobeying the
laws of war, relaxing the rules of engagement so that we can go
(12:32):
out and kill for a president that has said that they are
going to start withdrawing from Asia in the Pacific and focusing
on bringing the armed forces to American cities.
This shows you this arm, this White House, this Secretary of
Defense is lost. He doesn't even know what the
job is. OK, Jack, how do you respond to
that? And, and also picking up on this
next sort of chapter of the discussion, which is the the
(12:54):
rules of engagement that Pete Hegseth talked about and making
soldiers more lethal. I think he he used the word
increasing their lethality. What What are your thoughts on
that? I couldn't agree more.
Increasing lethality is the entire primary purpose of having
a standing army. You can go all the way back to
the days of the initial debates about this with Washington and
(13:15):
Jefferson and Hamilton and, you know, sort of the questions
about whether or not we should have a standing army.
And that of course is the purpose, the defense of the
homeland, the primary purpose ofthat.
And yes, of course, you will need a military that is able to
carry out that mission both withthe technological ability and on
the ground ability. If you're sending in, you know,
a QRF, you're sending in a soft unit.
You want to make sure those guysare the best of the best.
(13:36):
And then and that their support staff from the logistics to
supplies to medical, to all the intelligence all the way down
are also the best of the best. And that certainly starts
withholding a standard. And so this is something where
I'm, I'm, I'm afraid I just can't, I can't let it go.
We need to maintain the standards.
The standards have gotten LAX. We've seen mishaps in 7th Fleet
(13:56):
in the Asia Pacific region and we've seen mishaps in other
place, Certainly the biggest, ofcourse, being the disastrous
withdrawal of Afghanistan, whichdid take place under General
Miley. And I think it's I think it's a
a cop out to say that there's noconnection here between the LAX
standards and these unfortunate military scandals, failures and
mishaps that we've seen in the prior administration.
(14:17):
It's just as simple as that. And now so you mentioned, you
know, you mentioned sort of changing, you know, change the
subject back towards rules of engagement.
Look, it's it's very simple. The rules of engagement United
States military defense of the homeland slit written right into
the Constitution. OK.
But but just staying with you, Jack, what's your understanding?
I mean is, is that maximum lethality more of a kind of kill
(14:39):
now ask later approach? Is that what it is?
Well, I, I, I, I'd like to define the the parameters of
what exactly we're we're talkingabout.
Certainly the military has a range of options that are
available, and certainly different missions depend on
different things. OK, but what I was talking about
is when when Heck said said no more politically correct,
overbearing rules of engagement,just common sense maximum
(15:00):
lethality. I mean, Malcolm, what's your
interpretation of that? Let me tell you something.
I've served in the armed forces of two nations, right?
With exception. Right now, the eastern
battlefront of Ukraine, which has without any question the
greatest lethality on this planet right now in practice,
mainly because of their drones and the skill of the Ukrainian
(15:22):
army as they've developed over three years. the United States
armed Forces are the single mostlethal force on this planet.
And it's not because of PT standard.
It's because the three things that Pete Hagseth seems to hate,
the diversity of the force and it's MAT and it's thought the
equality of those, those soldiers and knowing that each
(15:44):
of them meets those standards and will be judged by those
standards and will be respected for what they bring to the
force, right? The inclusion of all thoughts,
minds, ranks and positions into the fighting force and bringing
that to the battlefront. That is where America's
lethality has been traditionallysince the founding of this
(16:06):
nation. OK.
And just lastly, I mean, let me turn to you, Jack.
I mean, one thing we heard Pete Hagsett say there in Virginia
was soldiers. Officers who disagree with what
he said there should quote, do the honourable thing and resign.
I mean, what? What's been the reaction?
Do we expect a backlash here anda spate of resignations?
No. I don't think you'll see
(16:27):
resignations. I mean, when someone's been in
that long, they're, they're really focused on their pension,
they're focused on their career afterwards.
So their prospects regarding theRolodex, defense contractors,
these types of things, the typesof positions that they'll get.
But the end of the day, here's what it all comes down to.
And you have a standard of lethality that should be first
and foremost, I want my militaryto be the most fearsome,
(16:50):
terrifying fighting machine on the face of the planet.
And you know why? The more terrifying my military
is, the more terrifying and and scared the rest of the world is
of my military, the less chance that anyone is going to pick up
a gun or a boat or a missile or a bomb or whatever it is and try
to come after my family, my wife, my children.
(17:13):
That's the purpose of my military.
And so that's why I support PeakHeadset, because I want my
military to terrify the rest of the world from even thinking
about messing with the United States of America.
OK. Jack Pacific, thank you very
much indeed for your time. Thanks for all the guests as
well. Malcolm Nance, Thank you both
very much indeed.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!