Asian American US senator blasts Sec. Hegseth's speech for high-ranking officers

The high-ranking commanders who flew in from all over the world were stoic while listening to
Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth harang them on DEI and appearance.

Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's speech in front of the US's high-ranking military commanders got blasted by US Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, who said the military would be better served if Hegseth resigns.

“As Trump pushes our nation to the brink of another Republican shutdown, Cadet Bone Spurs and the least qualified Defense Secretary in history decided to waste millions of taxpayer dollars—and our top military leaders’ time and attention—to force them to fly thousands of miles to listen to a partisan diatribe unbecoming of our nation’s leaders, all while Americans face real threats from adversaries that wish to do us harm," said Duckworth after the speech.

Hegseth's had the world' on edge when he called an unprecedented face-to-face meeting of all the US generals and admirals from all over the world. Expecting the worse, speculation ran rampant from the possibility of a declaration of war to a possible military coup. What Hegseth delivered was a dressing down against fat generals and "beardos."

Apparently, Hegseth is more concerned about appearance than military preparedness. He took aim at diversity, equality and inclusion policies designed to make all levels of the military reflect the population of the US. He even took a potshot at some of the men in attendance.

US Senator Tammy Duckworth, left, blasted Sec. Pete Hegseth's speech.

Fat generals

“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations or really any formation and see fat troops," said Hegseth. "Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are.”

“The nation’s top defense leader encouraging hazing troops who answered the call to fight and die for us is utterly appalling, especially from someone who should know that American troops have died from hazing. 

"He also claimed that weakening rules of engagement strengthens our warfighters, when in reality it will simply create more enemies of America and make it more likely those enemies would torture captured American troops. 

"And his claim that diversity is ‘debris’ erases the valor shown by women, people of color and many others who’ve served in uniform since this country’s founding and makes a mockery of our Veterans," said Duckworth, who lost both legs when her helicopter she was piloting was shot down in Iraq. 

"Meanwhile, Trump’s distressing desire to use American cities as ‘training grounds for our military’ isn’t just intrinsically un-American, it’s unconstitutional and is the sort of misuse of the military that tin-pot dictators—not Presidents—are known for," said the Thai American senator

'No beardos'

Hegseth has railed against bearded troops for months and ordered a military-wide review of grooming standards in March. The Army and Marine Corps tightened rules on medical shaving waivers shortly after that order.

“If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces," said Hegseth in his speech. "If not, then shave. We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans. But unfortunately, we have had leaders who either refuse to call BS and enforce standards or leaders who felt like they were not allowed to enforce standards,” Hegseth said.

The rule apparently targets Sikh and Muslim soldiers and sailors along with a Pagan sect. Sikhism, a 500-year-old religion founded in India, requires its male followers to wear a turban and beard and keep their hair uncut.

Under former military standards, Sikhs were allowed to follow their religious tenets
while serving their country. Sec. Hegseth's new standards will likely be challenged.

"There will be no beardos," said Hegseth. His new rule instructs the Defense Department to return to pre-2010 standards, referring to the first year the Army granted an exemption to a Sikh soldier to wear a beard in uniform. The service began granting permanent religious accommodations to Sikh soldiers in 2017, and other troops have been granted religious beard waivers on a case-by-case basis since 2019. 

Under Hegseth’s new policy, “facial hair waivers are generally not authorized,” and those who have been granted an exemption will face “individualized reviews” and must provide documentation proving their “sincerity of the religious or sincerely held belief” to be considered for an accommodation.

“Over the course of our more than 15 years of work to assist Sikhs with religious accommodations and fight for policy changes within all branches of the military, it has been demonstrated time and time again that maintaining a beard poses no barrier to capable and honorable military service,” said the Sikh Coalition in a statement.

"While religious accommodations remain exempt from this new guidance for now, the Sikh Coalition stands in solidarity with soldiers who may ultimately be kicked out of the Army by this new shaving policy, which will disproportionately affect Black and South Asian men—especially those with medical conditions like pseudofolliculitis barbae (razor-bumps),” the statement added.

Although he didn't mention race, the policy affects Black men more than any other race because it also ends permanent shaving profiles for those who suffer from pseudofolliculitis barbae, or razor bumps, an affliction that disproportionately affects Black men. Current troops with razor-bump profiles can be granted shaving exemptions for up to 12 months, but they must also have a treatment plan. Those with permanent conditions can be discharged. In years past, federal courts have repeatedly found that service members who grow beards have a right to keep them on grounds of religious freedom.

Speaking to the 800-plus military leaders, Hegseth claimed that standards had been manipulated “to hit racial quotas,” calling that unacceptable.

However, looking closer at the facts shows little variation in the racial makeup of the enlisted military since at least 2004.

The Population Representation in the Military Services reports show that white people account for about 67% of enlisted troops in 2023, a number that's gone largely unchanged over the last two decades. Twenty percent are Black, also largely unchanged since 2004.

Other races, including Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, combine to make up the remaining 13%.

“None of the ideas presented this morning make our military stronger or our nation safer," said Duckworth. "They are dangerous actions that threaten our national security and undermine the Constitutional rights of all Americans that our troops—as well as Trump and Hegseth—have sworn an oath to support and defend. If this PR stunt proved anything, it’s that the best thing Pete Hegseth can do to strengthen our military is resign in disgrace immediately.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

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