Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a sweeping “State of the Force” address to service members on September 30, using the platform to issue blunt directives on military standards — including a jab at “beardos” — while detailing plans to overhaul the armed forces.
“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department,” Hegseth declared at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Hegseth said that a “simple translation” of his message meant the Pentagon would exclude some groups, including trans service members, and “no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”
