Hegseth attacks civilian-led education in Naval War College speech – News From The States

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Hegseth attacks civilian-led education in Naval War College speech
Nov 09, 2026 | 4:00 pm ET
By Christopher Shea
Hegseth attacks civilian-led education in Naval War College speech

As calls for his resignation and impeachment grow in Washington, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came to the U.S. Naval War College in Newport Monday to announce a sweeping effort to strip military education of what he called its overly civilian influences.

“This morning we strip away the comfortable veneer of academic tradition,” he told an audience of 672 military personnel, students, faculty and civilian instructors inside Spruance Hall. “The fundamental duty of the armed forces of the United States is to ensure victory in war — full stop.”

Editor’s Editorial Note: [ see Hegseth’s quote above. ]
Veneer? comfortable? what would you know about “academic tradition” ? There no fundamental anything you would know about the People’s armed forces. You know nothing about “academic tradition” ? Victory in war? The People have a Department of Defense, not war, not video games a tin soldier fantasizes about. You will be impeached, if not now, soon. Tick tock, Mr. Hegseth. –DrWeb

Hegseth set the curriculum overhaul in motion in March, ordering a 90-day review of the Pentagon’s six senior service colleges, including the war colleges for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines and the National Defense University and National War College. The Pentagon established a task force to scrutinize their faculty and curriculum to ensure the schools were producing warfighters rather than “social justice warriors.”

The result: an eight-page memo dated Monday containing 33 directives Hegseth said would rid the colleges of “relics of 19th century academia” and better prepare officers for modern warfare.

Editor’s Note: Gemini found me the memo: https://media.defense.gov/2026/Nov/09/2004025139/-1/-1/1/REFORMING-PROFESSIONAL-MILITARY-EDUCATION-TO-FORGE-WARFIGHTERS-AND-SECURE-VICTORY.PDF — DrWeb

“In the profession of arms, nostalgia is fatal,” he said. “When our war college graduates walk across the stage and take command, their minds cannot be anchored on the strategic consensus of a vanished world.”

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