This article was first published by Liberation News on 09 October 2025.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s Sept. 30 address to general and flag officers at Quantico, Virginia is a signal that the military is about to undergo a cultural and ideological purge. This purge seeks to ensure that the military is culturally and ideologically “pure” and loyal first and foremost to the Trump administration, which intends to use the military to fight a “war within” the United States.
I was in the U.S. Army from 2008–2011, and I know from personal experience and from history that the U.S. military has never been a progressive institution; the military has and always will be an institution that exploits poverty to recruit working-class youth and only serves the class interests of the ruling class. The U.S. military is an instrument of oppression around the world. Unlike the mainstream media pundits who operate within an ahistoric analysis of society, it should come as no surprise that the ruling class is using the military to attack a growing people’s movement in the United States.
While the U.S. military itself is a tool of the ruling class, its members are incredibly diverse. Given the pro-ruling class character and mission of the military, the struggle within it against racist segregation, misogyny and anti-LGBTQ bigotry has created a contradiction that Hegseth is trying to resolve by purging it of Black people, women, transgender people and those “who don’t meet military fitness standards.”
Waging a Culture War under the Guise of Making the Military more “Lethal”
Hegseth, who calls himself an “American Crusader,” actually wrote a book called “American Crusade” in which he calls for an international and domestic holy war. Hegseth’s Sept. 30 address reads more like an addendum to this book. Hegseth stated, “This speech today is about people and it’s about culture. The topic today is about the nature of ourselves, because no plan, no program, no reform, no formation will ultimately succeed unless we have the right people and the right culture at the War Department.” He went on to repeatedly say that “personnel is policy.”
What Hegseth means is that he wants to purge Black people, women, and those who are not loyal to the “War Department.” When Hegseth talks about no more beards or “beardos,” what he means is that he wants to kick Black men out of the military, who are disproportionately affected by a skin condition that creates painful razor bumps after shaving and who won the to exemptions to strict grooming regulations that required shaving.
When Hegseth says he wants to overhaul the inspector general, equal opportunity, military equal opportunity and what he calls “walking on eggshells,” what he means is that he wants to protect sexual predators and drive women out of the military.
Hegseth wanting to protect predators and “toxic men” should come as no surprise since Hegseth himself was accused of sexual assault. Moreover, when Hegseth bemoans having to look at “fat generals” walking the halls of the Pentagon what he is doing is upholding the long far-right tradition of “building a new man.” According to Hegseth the new War Department requires the “right culture” and the right kind of man and if “personnel is policy,” then it is clear from Hegseth’s address that the right culture and the right man are far-right, Christian, straight, cisgender and white.
Impunity to Commit War Crimes
As part of his purge of the military, Hegseth repeatedly spoke about lethality. He stated, “We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.” The military has always indiscriminately targeted and killed civilians; Hegseth is telling the world that the U.S. military is no longer going to even try to pretend it cares about international law and protecting civilians.
As part of the billionaires’ agenda to reshape the military, Hegseth has been tasked with building a crusader army of far-right men. However, that does not mean that the working class can only sit back and watch helplessly. Throughout the history of class struggle the military has been a site of struggle; most recently as the Marines and National Guard being used to occupy U.S. cities, many veterans are calling on active duty and the National Guard to refuse orders to deploy and occupy U.S. cities.
While the military has always served the imperial and class interests of the ruling class, it has also been a site of class struggle. From Black Union soldiers smashing the Confederacy to active duty service members and veterans organizing against imperialist wars of aggression, it should come as no surprise that the military today, is still a site of struggle.
As Hegseth attacks the diversity of the military, it is the organized struggle of the multinational and gender diverse working class that is the solution to the billionaires’ agenda to change the form of governance of the U.S. into a far-right political dictatorship.
As an Iraq War veteran myself and a proud “beardo,” I have experienced how working-class organizing can transform even the most ardent patriot into a dedicated anti-fascist and anti-imperialist. The growing people’s movement in the United States must continue to build solidarity with those members of the working class that Hegseth is targeting. As the far right seeks to purge the military to create Hegseth’s crusader army, it is imperative that the rising people’s movement organize both outside and within is the military to resist.
Feature image by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0.