For His "State of the Force" Address, Defense Secretary Hegseth Had the Pentagon Ask Commanders to Send Only Fit, Top-Performing, "Impeccably Groomed" Troops — Screening His Own Audience by Appearance So the Cameras Would Show a Flawless Military Behind Him, With the Chosen Few Offered a Workout With Him — While the Force He Actually Runs Is Mired in an Unwinnable War, a Recruiting Crisis, and Leadership He Purged
According to emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon asked military commanders to hand-pick the service members allowed to attend Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's September 30 "State of the Force" address — and the criteria were about appearance as much as anything. One email to Army commanders said potential attendees had to pass the Army fitness test and meet its waist-to-height ratio while maintaining "impeccable grooming and uniform standards (no exception)." The Pentagon also wanted troops "consistently rated as top performers" with "a clear record of integrity, discipline and selfless service," and selected attendees were offered the chance to work out with Hegseth. In other words, the Secretary of Defense curated his own audience by how the troops would look on camera behind him. Physical standards are a real part of military readiness, and a defense secretary is entitled to care about them. But screening who may sit in the room for a speech — by grooming, waistline, and photogenic performance record — is not readiness; it is set-dressing. It is the instinct of a former television host staging a backdrop, applied to a military that is, at this moment, bogged down in a nearly seven-month war its own generals call unwinnable, short thousands of troops it cannot recruit, and missing senior leaders Hegseth himself pushed out. He is arranging the extras while the production burns.