The American Officer Caste System

The tension between Pete Hegseth and America's senior military leadership cannot be ignored. It comes down to a fundamental disdain senior career officers have for someone who does not fit into their officer caste. Someone who doesn’t have their pedigree and provenance.

These rejections are nothing new under the sun. The British military was infamous for a class structure that reflected strong class distinctions, as most of its’s officers purchased their commissions, coming from the gentry or upper middle class, while the rank and file– common soldiers, by contrast, were nearly all from the poor or destitute classes.

The American system, which was once more flexible in recognition of talent, regardless of class, nonetheless, has now a similar caste system, particularly, at the senior officer’s level. Graduation from a military academy is a most, be it West Point, Annapolis, or the Air Force Academy. In fact, unless you wear the graduation ring from Annapolis, you will never have command of a naval vessel, regardless of your accomplishments, talents and abilities.

The Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, was commissioned as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army National Guard, reaching the rank of Major. His military deployments and service included: Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq War – earning a Bronze Star for valor, War in Afghanistan – earning a second Bronze Star, and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and Joint Service Commendation Medal. 

But, regardless of his service to our country, talent and accomplishments – graduated from Princeton University, with a B.A. in politics, Hegseth is not a graduate of a Military Academy, so he will never be accepted by the senior military leadership, specifically, in the position he holds above them as the Secretary of War.

It's not necessarily that every senior officer dislikes him, but reporting from inside the Pentagon suggests serious friction between Hegseth and parts of the military's traditional leadership. 

But who are these senior officers? For the answer we must look back at Obama’s purge of senior military officers. What happened to our officer corps under Obama is viewed in many quarters, as unprecedented, baffling, and even harmful to our national security.

According to records, at least 197 officers, mostly at the rank of colonel or above, were relieved of duty for a variety of reasons, or for no stated reason at all. For example, General Carter Ham, was relieved as head of U.S. Africa Command because he disagreed with orders “not to mount a rescue effort” in response to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on U.S. diplomatic personnel in Benghazi, Libya.

Another point of contention is Hegseth’s vision of a strong masculine military. He wants to eliminate what he calls a “woke” military culture, which promotes and rewards personnel based upon color, gender, and sexual orientation not merit. 

Hegseth has repeatedly criticized the military’s obsession with diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the military leadership's approach to gender issues, and promotions based on DEI initiatives, rather than merit. All of which, he considers excessive political correctness.

He believes that the military should instead, concentrate on combat readiness and a traditional warrior culture. Many senior officers, however, who have spent years implementing policies that go back to Obama’s presidency, many of whom owe their current commissions to Obama’s purge of the senior officer corp, disagree. They have a major institutional differences with their boss and it shows.