Hegseth Orders Senior Military Schools to Focus on ‘Victory’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered changes to the curriculum at US senior service colleges, arguing that future admirals and generals need an education more focused on winning wars than academic theories.

(Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered changes to the curriculum at US senior service colleges, arguing that future admirals and generals need an education more focused on winning wars than academic theories.

“The only question that matters to the American republic is this: Will it help us achieve victory?” Hegseth said. “To be sure, there are plenty of other important considerations in military life: Ethics, logistics, administration, diplomacy. But all of them are in service of victory.”

Hegseth announced his plans during a speech at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he said an 18-month review by his office had revealed “a stubborn undercurrent of passive-aggressive institutional resistance” to the changes pushed by the Trump administration.

The embattled Pentagon chief made the announcement as he faces an impeachment effort in the House, and after Democrats pledged to investigate his leadership once they assume control of the House and Senate in January. 

There are also growing bipartisan calls for President Donald Trump to fire Hegseth, though the president and other cabinet officials have publicly voiced support for him.

“My team, we’re not worried about the noise,” Hegseth told reporters in Rhode Island. “There’s partisan noise all over our town. We’re focused on delivering the president’s agenda.”

Implementing Hegseth’s desired changes may take time. Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata is to “issue supplemental implementation guidance as necessary” and convene relevant officials “no less than every 60 days” to track progress and address any obstacles. The memo directs the service secretaries to provide reports to Tata.

Among other changes, Tata is tasked with finding alternatives to existing external accreditation bodies for the schools.

The changes apply to institutions that provide professional military education to mid-career and senior officers, including the Air War College, Army War College, Marine Corps War College, National War College, Naval War College, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.

Also covered are the Intermediate Level Education institutions such as the Army’s Command and General Staff College, the Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College, the College of Naval Command and Staff and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, as well as joint programs at the Joint Forces Staff College and National Intelligence University.

Monday’s move is the latest in Hegseth’s effort to overhaul the military educational system, which has included banning books discussing race and gender from Defense Department-run schools on military bases, and directing the service academies to eliminate tenure for civilian instructors.

“Our senior service colleges must cease producing theorists whose very first experience integrating the strategic, operational and tactical realms occurs when they step into a theater of war,” he said in his remarks.

Hegseth said he plans to shift the curriculum to emphasize not just military strategy, but execution, and to ensure that the majority of instructors have relevant military experience, including civilian faculty. He also directed war colleges to administer wargames or other comprehensive exams.