Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is turning his focus to a new issue: purging the "woke" from U.S. war colleges.
According to Fox News, Hegseth, who styles himself "Secretary of War" due to Trump's nonbinding executive order changing the department's name, "has announced a task force to evaluate senior service colleges to ensure they are not tainted by woke ideology and offer quality education."
In a post to X, Hegseth proclaimed, "Professional Military Education should produce warfighters and leaders — not wokesters. That’s why we are establishing a Task Force to evaluate our Senior Service Colleges and ensure the focus is where it belongs. No distractions. Just warfighting."
Hegseth's move, depending on how far-reaching it is, could reduce the potential pool of officer corps coming through the Army War College, National Defense University, Naval War College, Marine Corps University, and Air War College at a moment when the Trump administration is gearing up for a war in Iran of indeterminate timeline.
This also comes as Hegseth came under fire this week for suggesting in a press conference that "no quarter" will be given to Iranian combatants, which if meant literally would constitute a war crime to even say.