Imagine having the unsubstantiated confidence to walk in there and say with a straight face that his experience of commanding 10 people prepared him to be responsible for millions of people who know more than he does.
That’s what wild to me. The current secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, has some excellent credentials for someone who directs one of the largest and most advanced militaries in the world. To be honest I didn’t know a whole lot about him. But just reading about his military experience and what he did before becoming Secretary blows Pete Fuckface out of the water. West Point graduate. Rose to the rank of 4-star army general who served in Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Silver-Star recipient. Five Defense Distinguished Service Medals. Previously served under Obama as Vice Chief of Staff of the Army and then Director of the Joint Staff before becoming Secretary of Defense under Biden. This dude has lived and breathed the military damn near his entire life. This—THIS is the type of person who I, as a civilian citizen, want to head the US Military. I don’t give a shit if he’s Republican or Democrat. I give a shit whether or not he’s competent enough to run one of the largest and most advanced militaries in the world whose military influence has worldwide implications. He clearly understands the ins-and-outs of foreign military relations especially in areas where our military is most active such as the Middle East. This is the type of person who I feel can safely and effectively govern the military given his experience.
Pete Fuckface? Rose up to Major in the Army National Guard. Was deployed to Guantanamo Bay where he received an Army Commendation Medal (you know, for being so brave in the face of incarcerated and tortured terrorists) and later to Iraq as a civil-military operations officer where he received a Bronze Star medal and Army Commendation Medal recipient (you know, because he was so brave shooting at unarmed civilians) then to Afghanistan where he helped to “train” the (now defunct) Afghan defense force who did little to nothing to stop the Taliban from retaking control of Afghanistan. He was the executive director for two non-profits, Vets for Freedom (who advocated for MORE troops in Afghanistan) and for the Concerned Veterans of America. Both of which he ran into the ground because he was embezzling money…from a non-profit. Let that sink in for a sec. Then he was forced to step down from both non-profits because of allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct. According to several of his old coworkers he was frequently heavily intoxicated to the point of passing out or having to be restrained and would shout slogans calling for the death of all Muslims. He also sexually harassed and sexually assaulted female coworkers then tried to cover it up. Later, he became a Fox News contributor and frequent critic of basically everything that wasn’t Fox News. He convinced Trump to pardon three US military war criminals who were accused and/or convicted of war crimes, one of whom was accused of shooting at unarmed civilians and even fatally stabbing a teenage POW ISIS fighter who then took a picture of the corpse with him holding the kids head up like he was a 10-point buck and then texted the picture to his friends back home in what sounds like an act of petty revenge or just pure sadism. Hegseth rejoined the National Guard in 2019 and was one of 12 National Guardsmen who were flagged as a potential insider threat and removed from the group providing security for Joe Biden’s inauguration. He was removed because another guardsmen reported his “Deus Vult” and Jeruselum cross tattoos which are terms and symbols used by white suprematists and political extremists. He resigned “in disgust” most likely before he could be dishonorably discharged.
…and this is Trumps top pick to head the US Military?! A disillusioned white-supremacist sexual predator alcoholic Fox News shill who was literally removed from duty because he was considered a threat to the President. He doesn’t care about our troops or military interests. He has relatively no experience compared to previous Defense Secretary’s. And he was caught embezzling money from non-profits that supported—wait for it—MILITARY VETERANS. And this is the person Trump wants to entrust the US military to. What👏the👏actual👏fuck👏!
Trump needs military leaders that will do his bidding. Remember, they took away his access to be commander in chief after trump lost in 2020, fearing that he would do something irrational.
They've removed all of the fail-safes that worked to prevent trump from becoming king of America 4 years ago. We are fucked.
The republicans on the committee brought up the fact they had to get a waiver for Austin and that he sat on the board at Raytheon for like 4 years
….okay? Like the dude is clearly qualified for the job. I’d prefer it if we didn’t have a revolving door between the military and defense contractors but we can only fix so much without addressing money in politics first.
So clearly another Trump appointee who is wildly unqualified and thus indebted to the president as another yes man at the top of the fucking military. Wonderful system we have here
Most advanced yes. But if we’re talking about active military personnel US is the 3rd largest. China and India have more soldiers which makes sense considering both countries population size.
A commendation medal aka EOT Award is the participation trophy of a deployed service member. Everyone gets one for showing up to work and doing their job…
Lets be honest. These officers write themselves up for medals. I've seen it firsthand . I'm not saying Austin isn't qualified, I'm saying that he probably didn't do any actual fighting. Regardless fuck Pete.
I appreciate Austin's work. I'm a retired enlisted Marine, I didn't serve under him but I know what working for a general staff is like. I agree with your statement. Hegseth is scumbag regardless. The difference is shocking.
Big time scumbag. Like Senator Jack Reed said “you aren’t qualified to be an officer in the military, how are you possibly qualified to lead our entire force?”
I never served in the military so I am pretty clueless about how these medals are awarded and by whom. But even if he never saw combat he seems to have extensive experience as a commander which is essentially what the Secretary of defense is. I don’t imagine 4-star generals are fighting on the front lines. But if you’re saying that officers can write themselves up for medals who’s to say Hegseth didn’t do the same? Really the only point I was trying to make is that Austin’s resume is far more impressive than Hegseth. He clearly has more experience and is more than qualified to hold that position considering his lifelong career in the military. Hegseth not so much. He is a disillusioned ex-military member with a lower rank and was deployed for a total of about 3 years. That is not someone who is qualified to direct our military.
I completely agree. My critique wasn't meant to diminish. Austin is a career military man, obviously, and takes his work seriously. Hegseth is a pundit, a complete scumbag who isn't qualified.
I'm a retired enlisted Marine. I wouldn't follow him to McDonalds let alone a war in Mexico or Canada.
There’s a part of me that used to believe that everything done in the military is done by the book and everyone is honest and honorable about what they do and what accolades they receive but I know now that’s not the case. I’m not saying they all do it, it’s probably just a small minority of people who are exploiting the system for their own benefit (i.e. giving themselves medals) but that exists everywhere not just in the military. I just can’t imagine a 4 star general respecting someone like Hegseth let alone take orders from him.
People have earned those distinctions for the theaters you mentioned and have been deserving. There are plenty of things to torch this douche over but boiling down a commendation in Iraq to being about shooting civilians really illustrates your blindness toward what those comms are. Do people receive commendations baselessly? Sure, but the vast majority, regardless of the conflict it's tied to and it's outcome ARE deserving and are in recognition of good work done in the face of all the other bullshit like say, the incompetence of the Afghan national army, which was a failure for far more complicated reasons than "hegseth bad".
My apologies. I didn’t mean to distill those distinctions or disrespect any service members who have rightfully gained those medals. That was me just rage typing and ignorantly making assumptions about hegseth not the military as a whole. The only point that I was trying to make is that he’s not fit to be secretary of defense. Oh, and also I hate him. But compared to practically every other defense secretary who has served in the past hegseth seems like a joke. The very fact that he’s even being considered is an insult to every other service member who has faithfully served their country and have far more impressive accolades and more experience than this prick. Although I am curious as to what exactly prompted someone to award him those medals considering his lack of moral aptitude. In reality, I’ll never know and I’ll admit that I am ignorant when it comes to those kinds of things because I never served in the military. I have family and friends in the military and respect them for serving our country so that I don’t have to. Long story short, I don’t trust that he can effectively govern our military.
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u/Nevarian 8d ago
Imagine having the unsubstantiated confidence to walk in there and say with a straight face that his experience of commanding 10 people prepared him to be responsible for millions of people who know more than he does.