Hegseth Cracks Down on Military Fitness and Beard Waivers

 

 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a blunt message to more than 800 generals and admirals in Washington, ordering a strict return to military fitness and grooming standards. The unprecedented gathering of top brass was called to reinforce what Hegseth described as a “ruthless, dispassionate, and common-sense application of standards.”

 

Central to his remarks was a new ban on permanent beard waivers, which he said had been abused for years. “No more beardos,” Hegseth declared, adding that only certain special operations units would remain exempt. Critics argue the rule disproportionately affects Black service members, who more often suffer from chronic skin conditions aggravated by shaving.

 

Hegseth also announced mandatory daily physical training and twice-yearly fitness tests across the force. He criticized both enlisted troops and senior officers for being out of shape, pointing to obesity as a growing national security risk. CDC data shows nearly 20% of active-duty service members were classified as obese in 2020, mirroring broader US health trends.

 

The secretary further called for a review of combat arms standards, many of which were adjusted in 2015 to allow women to qualify for frontline roles. Hegseth insisted that physical requirements must return to their original benchmarks, regardless of gender outcomes. “If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is,” he said.

 

The meeting highlighted Hegseth’s push to overhaul military readiness, discipline, and image, signaling a cultural shift in how the Pentagon approaches both appearance and performance in its ranks.

 

Key Takeaways

• Defense Secretary Hegseth banned permanent beard waivers, ending years of grooming exemptions.
• Mandatory daily PT and semi-annual fitness tests will be reinstated for all service members.
• Combat standards for women will revert to pre-2015 levels, with no adjustments for gender.

 

Source: Business Insider

Special Forces not included in the beardos ban, don't ruffle up them elite killers Hegseth........😆

 

 

 

OMG that was so embarrassing to watch......and at the end......total silence.

Just now, Will B Good said:

 

 

 

OMG that was so embarrassing to watch......and at the end......total silence.

Yes that silence spoke louder than any words could have!

Guys like this!

 

3 hours ago, jvs said:

Guys like this!

 

 

  The MAGA commandoes.  

 

  "We're going to supersize our military", said Hegseth.  (Probably)

15 hours ago, jvs said:

Guys like this!

 

 

They may be idiots, but I'll bet that place won't be getting robbed while they're adding to their girth.

 

 

This is what you get when you install the Saturday morning news guy as Secretary of Defense.

Surely Hegseth can't stay in the job much longer? What an embarrassing fool he is.

On 10/2/2025 at 11:05 AM, brewsterbudgen said:

Surely Hegseth can't stay in the job much longer? What an embarrassing fool he is.

They both blew it for sure......I guess they are unaware that the distinguished decorated audience attending are apolitical........... 

On 10/1/2025 at 11:01 AM, CANSIAM said:

Special Forces not included in the beardos ban, don't ruffle up them elite killers Hegseth........😆

As it should be, 

 

the rest should shape up and look like they earn the uniform they are privileged to wear. 

 

Should be mandatory for every male citizen to join army for a year or two depending on which field and service they signs up for and education paid for. 

 

If it was more discipline among most men, we might not have to deal with som much BS in our civilian life’s. 

Privileged to wear...what nonsense  I don't consider it a privilege to put my life on the line. What has occured in people's brains to enable them to utter such nonsense?

https://www.rawstory.com/amp/trump-military-speech-2674139938

 

'Disbelief': Pentagon reporter can't find one military official who liked Hegseth's speech

the reality of mega defies logic but thats not new ...

Threatening the very people that you need and have to rely on is never a wise move.

 

It is about the level that Trump and Hegseth are at though.

I can only imagine what these highly accomplished three and four star generals and admirals, and career officers were thinking, listening to this guy who saw minor combat as a lieutenant and has no idea what he's talking about. He comes across as a former Fox News host and nothing more, and has absolutely no business being the boss of these men. 

 

He spent quite a bit of time lying about America's accomplishments on the battlefield, and covering up the fact that the US has not won a war since World War II, unless of course you include Grenada and Panama. He also encouraged senior officers to circumvent the Geneva Convention, and ignore any level of moral decency, moral courage or proper behavior against the enemy or adversaries. And Trump is actually thinking about sending these soldiers into US cities without any police training? I don't think that's going to go well. 

3 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Threatening the very people that you need and have to rely on is never a wise move.

 

It is about the level that Trump and Hegseth are at though.

Those two morons and the "Dept. of War" have just sealed their fate with the military. After that fiasco each and every general realizes just how far gone Trump is. Absolutely no respect for him anymore. Yes they are pledged to do their job and they will. But they now know for sure what they are dealing with and what a threat to America itself Trump and Hegseth are. 

 

Imagine how these generals who have all seem combat felt when Trump started in on Portland Or. being a war zone, and we need to go into  more cities as they too are war zones. These fine gentlemen have seen war and combat and it sure is not in American cities at this time. 

23 hours ago, Hummin said:

As it should be, 

 

the rest should shape up and look like they earn the uniform they are privileged to wear. 

 

Should be mandatory for every male citizen to join army for a year or two depending on which field and service they signs up for and education paid for. 

 

If it was more discipline among most men, we might not have to deal with som much BS in our civilian life’s. 

I forget what sciance fiction book I read this in, but the premise was if anyone wanted the right to vote then they needed to spend a year either in the military or a volunteer group like Peace Corps. Good idea!

17 minutes ago, marin said:

Those two morons and the "Dept. of War" have just sealed their fate with the military. After that fiasco each and every general realizes just how far gone Trump is. Absolutely no respect for him anymore. Yes they are pledged to do their job and they will. But they now know for sure what they are dealing with and what a threat to America itself Trump and Hegseth are. 

 

Imagine how these generals who have all seem combat felt when Trump started in on Portland Or. being a war zone, and we need to go into  more cities as they too are war zones. These fine gentlemen have seen war and combat and it sure is not in American cities at this time. 

The constitution is clear about the roles of army used against civilians, and Trump and Hegseth have broken the 1. Amendment.

 

 

4 minutes ago, HappyExpat57 said:

I forget what sciance fiction book I read this in, but the premise was if anyone wanted the right to vote then they needed to spend a year either in the military or a volunteer group like Peace Corps. Good idea!

There is many roles and disciplines in the army, so there is a place for everyone who can serve, even rich privileged boys. 

 

 

 

It's not uncommon to disagree with a Commander-in-Chief.

It's not normal to be embarrassed by one.

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

<snip>

 

...He also encouraged senior officers to circumvent the Geneva Convention, and ignore any level of moral decency, moral courage or proper behavior against the enemy or adversaries. ...

Kegbreath reduced oversight and diminished the role of the JAGs. Here's some of the results, just speaking of the "Elite Special Forces". Special indeed. Twitler should be declaring the SF as a domestic terrorist group. From an extended investigation by the NYT:
 

To give just a partial list: Two operators with Seventh Group in Florida were convicted of smuggling cocaine, and another was accused of shooting up a bowling alley, killing three people. A sex and blackmail scandal at group headquarters in Tampa, Fla., ensnared several senior leaders and led to the conviction of a major. In Washington State, the First Group commander, Col. Owen Ray, was sentenced to prison after assaulting his wife at gunpoint.

The highest-profile incident to date suggests the link between the war and blowback at home. In January, Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty Green Beret, blew up a truck packed with fireworks in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas while simultaneously shooting himself.

Livelsberger was a veteran operator who served for nearly 20 years. He had shown symptoms of brain injury and might have been experiencing a psychotic break, but he also wrote that he despaired of his involvement in airstrikes against village drug labs in Afghanistan, which the U.N. reported killed at least 30 civilians in 2019.

“The U.N. basically called these war crimes, but the administration made them disappear,” Livelsberger wrote. “I was part of that cover-up.”

At Fort Bragg, which has been awash in drugs and had the highest rate of fatal drug overdoses of any base from 2017 to 2021, a Special Operations medic who had been abusing steroids killed himself and his wife. A Delta operator died by suicide while facing charges for a drunken hit-and-run that left four teenagers hospitalized. Another Delta soldier, Master Sgt. William Lavigne, was found dead in the woods alongside a former supply-unit soldier, Timothy Dumas, who worked with the Special Forces — both were involved in a drug-trafficking ring on base, according to the journalist Seth Harp in his book “The Fort Bragg Cartel,” which was published in August.

Soldiers from Third Group were involved in three separate lethal shootings off base. Another pleaded guilty to paying minors for sex. During one four-year period, 11 of the 70 majors in the group were found to have committed misconduct. One of them was the subject of a revenge-porn lawsuit in North Carolina.

The problem of crime involving operators was notable enough to prompt questions in Congress. When Gen. Bryan Fenton, the head of the military’s overall Special Operations Command, appeared before the Senate in 2023, he was asked about the crime wave. “So, General Fenton, you know, there have been a series of concerning incidents — suicides, murders, overdoses, drug-trafficking arrests — surrounding the Special Operations community at Fort Bragg,” said Senator Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican, who wanted to know what the military was doing about it.

 

“I want everybody to know that is not the type of behavior that is welcomed in this formation and is not indicative of an organization in whom the nation has placed a lot of trust,” said Fenton, who served as a Green Beret and in the elite Delta Force. “I think a key piece in that one is holding folks accountable.”

1 hour ago, Peabody said:

Kegbreath reduced oversight and diminished the role of the JAGs. Here's some of the results, just speaking of the "Elite Special Forces". Special indeed. Twitler should be declaring the SF as a domestic terrorist group. From an extended investigation by the NYT:
 

To give just a partial list: Two operators with Seventh Group in Florida were convicted of smuggling cocaine, and another was accused of shooting up a bowling alley, killing three people. A sex and blackmail scandal at group headquarters in Tampa, Fla., ensnared several senior leaders and led to the conviction of a major. In Washington State, the First Group commander, Col. Owen Ray, was sentenced to prison after assaulting his wife at gunpoint.

The highest-profile incident to date suggests the link between the war and blowback at home. In January, Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty Green Beret, blew up a truck packed with fireworks in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas while simultaneously shooting himself.

Livelsberger was a veteran operator who served for nearly 20 years. He had shown symptoms of brain injury and might have been experiencing a psychotic break, but he also wrote that he despaired of his involvement in airstrikes against village drug labs in Afghanistan, which the U.N. reported killed at least 30 civilians in 2019.

“The U.N. basically called these war crimes, but the administration made them disappear,” Livelsberger wrote. “I was part of that cover-up.”

At Fort Bragg, which has been awash in drugs and had the highest rate of fatal drug overdoses of any base from 2017 to 2021, a Special Operations medic who had been abusing steroids killed himself and his wife. A Delta operator died by suicide while facing charges for a drunken hit-and-run that left four teenagers hospitalized. Another Delta soldier, Master Sgt. William Lavigne, was found dead in the woods alongside a former supply-unit soldier, Timothy Dumas, who worked with the Special Forces — both were involved in a drug-trafficking ring on base, according to the journalist Seth Harp in his book “The Fort Bragg Cartel,” which was published in August.

Soldiers from Third Group were involved in three separate lethal shootings off base. Another pleaded guilty to paying minors for sex. During one four-year period, 11 of the 70 majors in the group were found to have committed misconduct. One of them was the subject of a revenge-porn lawsuit in North Carolina.

The problem of crime involving operators was notable enough to prompt questions in Congress. When Gen. Bryan Fenton, the head of the military’s overall Special Operations Command, appeared before the Senate in 2023, he was asked about the crime wave. “So, General Fenton, you know, there have been a series of concerning incidents — suicides, murders, overdoses, drug-trafficking arrests — surrounding the Special Operations community at Fort Bragg,” said Senator Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican, who wanted to know what the military was doing about it.

 

“I want everybody to know that is not the type of behavior that is welcomed in this formation and is not indicative of an organization in whom the nation has placed a lot of trust,” said Fenton, who served as a Green Beret and in the elite Delta Force. “I think a key piece in that one is holding folks accountable.”

Criminals and morally bankrupt misfits like Trump and Hegseth are very comfortable around crime and criminals. He seems to want to form the Armed Forces in his own image, one of a lowly man with no moral standing. The problem is that many of these high-ranking officers are very disciplined men and women, and they're just not buying into the nonsense. 

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

Criminals and morally bankrupt misfits like Trump and Hegseth are very comfortable around crime and criminals. He seems to want to form the Armed Forces in his own image, one of a lowly man with no moral standing. The problem is that many of these high-ranking officers are very disciplined men and women, and they're just not buying into the nonsense. 

Relieved to hear that. I was thinking the fascist state needs the military to do their dirty work without question. And that this pathetic charade was just to lay the groundwork for the firing of unsuitable generals. That Hegseth fool should be so embarrassed. What an absolute tosser.

15 hours ago, Usnh said:

Relieved to hear that. I was thinking the fascist state needs the military to do their dirty work without question. And that this pathetic charade was just to lay the groundwork for the firing of unsuitable generals. That Hegseth fool should be so embarrassed. What an absolute tosser.

The problem with guys like Pete, is that he has absolutely no self-awareness and he's so deluded by the MAGA hypnotism that he's able to manifest this level of delusion, and a truly ridiculous philosophy. 

 

Adversaries around the world are no doubt interpreting this as some sort of wet dream. 

22 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

I forget what sciance fiction book I read this in, but the premise was if anyone wanted the right to vote then they needed to spend a year either in the military or a volunteer group like Peace Corps. Good idea!

I spent 25 years in the British military, Does that mean I should get 25 votes?

On 10/2/2025 at 7:08 AM, impulse said:

 

They may be idiots, but I'll bet that place won't be getting robbed while they're adding to their girth.

 

 

Bet the purple haired Transtifa freaks will avoid them. 

13 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I spent 25 years in the British military, Does that mean I should get 25 votes?

The Oswald Mosely Regiment downt count