Just hours after his confirmation as defense secretary on Friday night, Pete Hegseth issued his “message to the force” in a Pentagon press release.
He said it was the “privilege of a lifetime to lead the warriors of the Department of Defense,” and he urged his new subordinates to “put America first” and “never back down.”
The mission instruction from Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump is to “achieve peace through strength,” according to Hegseth.
“We will do this in three ways — by restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military, and reestablishing deterrence,” the 44-year-old said in a release reminiscent of the opening statement at his confirmation hearing.
Hegseth, who has been accused of excessive drinking, physical and verbal abuse, financial mismanagement and sexual assault – all allegations he denies – said he would work to “revive the warrior ethos and restore trust in our military.”
“We are American warriors. We will defend our country. Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear. The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose,” he said.
The rebuilding of the military will come by “matching threats and capabilities,” Hegseth said, pointing to the need to revive the defense industrial base, reform the acquisition process, pass a financial audit and field “emerging technologies.”
“We will reestablish deterrence by defending our homeland — on the ground and in the sky,” Hegseth said before calling out China and its “aggression in the Indo-Pacific.”
During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth was unable to name a single country that’s a member of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a political union of 10 states formed in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
“We will stand by our allies — and our enemies are on notice,” Hegseth added, even as Trump has issued threats to NATO allies Canada and Denmark over tariffs and control of the arctic Danish territory of Greenland.
Three Republican senators — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, former Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Susan Collins of Maine — voted against Hegseth’s confirmation, leading to a 50-50 tie and a tie-breaking vote by Vice President J.D. Vance.
“The restoration of ‘warrior culture’ will not come from trading one set of culture warriors for another,” McConnell said in a statement after the vote.
Both Murkowski and Collins focused on Hegseth’s disparaging remarks about women in combat roles as they outlined why they voted against his confirmation. They also pointed to his lack of managerial experience.
Murkowski said earlier this week that his previous affairs showed a “lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces.”
“All of this will be done with a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness,” Hegseth added in his message to staff. “I have committed my life to warfighters and their families. Just as my fellow soldiers had my back on the battlefield, know that I will always have your back. We serve together at a dangerous time. Our enemies will neither rest nor relent. And neither will we. We will stand shoulder to shoulder to meet the urgency of this moment.”
Hegseth concluded his message by telling the department employees that they would “defeat and destroy our enemies,” if “necessary.”
