As a veteran who has served my country with honor and integrity, I am appalled by the latest news surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. His egregious lack of experience, combined with his recent operational security (OPSEC) breaches (at least 2 known!), have sealed his fate as a public servant.
Hegseth's resume is riddled with gaps and unfulfilled potential. His military training suggests he never intended to make the Army National Guard or Reserves a career. This can be inferred by the fact that Hegseth did not complete courses that are essential for infantry officers career progression. These courses include Ranger School, Airborne School, or Air Assault School. This lack of training is a career killer for any infantry officer, and would have made continued promotions nearly impossible as he passed through the ranks. This detail becomes damning when considering the gravity of his role as Secretary of Defense.
There are other questions surrounding Hegseth’s career. His military service ended with an unexplained "separation", a euphemism for being asked to leave. This is not someone who was a high-performing officer, but rather an individual who was deemed unsuitable for further service. The fact that his service record remains hidden from public view is a clear indication of Hegseth’s attempt to cover up his own failures.
It is time for the truth to come out. Hegseth's service record must be made available for public scrutiny. We need to know what exactly happened during his time in service, and why he was deemed unfit for further duty. Anything less is a dereliction of our duty as citizens to hold those in power accountable.
Hegseth's shortcomings go far beyond a simple lack of experience. His recent actions demonstrate a profound disregard for the very principles of operational security (OPSEC) that are meant to protect our nation's secrets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to bring his wife, Jennifer Rauchet, into two high-level meetings discussing sensitive national security issues is a glaring violation of OPSEC and an affront to the standards expected of military leadership. These meetings, one at the Pentagon and another at NATO headquarters, involved classified discussions on Ukraine and U.S.-U.K. military cooperation—topics requiring strict clearance protocols. Jennifer, a private citizen and Fox News executive, with no known security clearance, had no legitimate reason to be present, raising serious concerns about potential leaks and undermining trust among allies.
The initial breach, which involved adding a journalist to an encrypted Signal app thread by accident, is a catastrophic failure of judgment. This is not just a minor mistake; it's a serious compromise of national security that should have far-reaching consequences.
As a veteran, I am deeply disturbed by Hegseth's cavalier attitude in response to this security breach. His lack of accountability and transparency is a slap in the face to every service member who has ever put their life on the line for this country.
A public servant who believes that they should devote their public office for even “an hour or a day of their time to any personal partisan causes” at the expense of the “duties other than the awesome duties of this office” has no business representing the most power military on the planet.
As a nation, we can't afford to have leaders who prioritize politics over principle, who compromise our national security for personal gain, or who peddle divisive rhetoric that tears us apart.
Pete Hegseth's career is over. His lack of experience, combined with his OPSEC breaches, has made him unfit for any position of leadership in the military. And as for his ideology, let's be clear: we will not tolerate this kind of hate speech and division in our ranks.
To my fellow veterans, I urge you to stand strong against this kind of un-American behavior. We have a responsibility to uphold the values that we swore to defend, even when it's hard.
And to Pete Hegseth, I say this: your time is up. You've had your chance to serve, and you've blown it. It's time for you to face the consequences of your actions and retire from public life.
We will not forget the sacrifices that we have made, nor will we stand idly by while those who would seek to undermine our values and our way of life are given a platform.
This is why we fight.
