JB99 said:

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oldag941 said:

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I don't have a confidant, but have served with some of these men. And they are continuing to serve. I can say your confidant is painting with too broad a brush. So much of that is tied to personality. There is a whole group of retired generals and admirals that signed up to support Trump. To some extent, the senior leaders actions are a product of their CEO (the President). Just like in any other business. But I would be careful to paint with such a broad brush. There are some badass war fighters leading today. Lopping them off would be like "cutting off your nose to spite your face".

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And how did that work out last time? He hired super qualified guys he didn't know very well and they sabotaged him

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He knows Miller and Colby.

We're not arguing it's one or the other...you can have competency and know the guy.

Hegseth is a news anchor.

That's it...thats what he's spent the majority of his life doing.

Absolutely love this pick.

Absolutely expect the Dems to dig in their heels on this one, with the help of many middle of the road politically military leaders in the 5-sided building that will try to convince 4 republicans to switch their vote.

K2-HMFIC said:

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JB99 said:

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oldag941 said:

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I don't have a confidant, but have served with some of these men. And they are continuing to serve. I can say your confidant is painting with too broad a brush. So much of that is tied to personality. There is a whole group of retired generals and admirals that signed up to support Trump. To some extent, the senior leaders actions are a product of their CEO (the President). Just like in any other business. But I would be careful to paint with such a broad brush. There are some badass war fighters leading today. Lopping them off would be like "cutting off your nose to spite your face".

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And how did that work out last time? He hired super qualified guys he didn't know very well and they sabotaged him

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He knows Miller and Colby.

We're not arguing it's one or the other...you can have competency and know the guy.

Hegseth is a news anchor.

That's it...thats what he's spent the majority of his life doing.

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And Trump knows all three guys much better than we do. It ultimately comes down to who he trusts more than what's on their resume.

I get the criticism in the politics of "he's just a news anchor!"

This whining about his rank is dumb. Its not a military position, and IMO has only become such because of two decades of war has been churning out these generals.

Notable Secretaries of Defense and their military ranks....

Ash Carter - none/Bureaucrat
Chuck Hagel - Sergeant (US Army)
Leon Panetta - 1st Lt (US Army)
Robert Gates - 1st Lt (US Air Force)
Donald Rumsfeld - Captain (US Navy)
William Cohen - None/Politician
Dick Cheney - None/Politician

Its a civilian position and all these guys even if they were military men got it mostly because of their activities as a civilian, not because of how much responsibility they had in the military.

If it makes Fauxcahauntus go on the warpath, I'm all for the pick.

What makes him qualified to run the Dept. of Defense other than his anti-woke(which is important)?

It may work out.

45-70Ag said:

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🚨STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

Congratulations, @PeteHegseth! pic.twitter.com/KUDTTe1vUn

— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) November 13, 2024

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An elite Ivy-League education AND a mother of a military background? Now that's a Torbush wow pick.

As an amendment to my post above about his rank...Mattis and Austin actually had to get Congressional waivers to become SecDef because they didnt qualify for the position because you're supposed to have not been on active duty for 10 years if you were a general or flag officer.

He's more than just a Foxnews anchor, and anyone looking only that shallow is not a serious person.

I can't wait for the confirmation hearing when the dems go after his tattoos.






Hell, just having a SecDef with a bicep will be mind blowing to the left.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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What makes him qualified to run the Dept. of Defense other than his anti-woke(which is important)?

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Combat soldier.
Obviously will not put up with distracting BS.
Seems to think a military's job is to deter aggression by having the ability to kick ass and not be an incompetently led social experiment.

These alone make this pick far better than anything a demwit president would pick.

I'm with you on how this pick is very odd. What I will also say is that many picks over the past few decades have ended up sucking anyway. We just left terrorists an armory that was beyond their wildest dreams. Can Hegseth really do any worse?

ttu_85 said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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What makes him qualified to run the Dept. of Defense other than his anti-woke(which is important)?

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Combat soldier.
Obviously will not put up with distracting BS.
Seems to think a military's job is to deter aggression by having the ability to kick ass and not be an incompetently led social experiment.

These alone make this pick far better than anything a demwit president would pick.

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Why is what a demwit would pick even part of the conversation?

I've not found any evidence that he knows how to run such a large organization with such a large budget. That's a little concerning.

I think the point is experience in general. Not just military. That may be one aspect and important to some. But other experience is also being discussed here. Leading and managing. It's not a military role so that cannot be the sole discussion point. When listing those other SECDEFs, yes, their military experience may be "light", but their other experience typically was more than Hegseth. That's the comparison. Overall background and overall experience. Not right or wrong but definitely a good discussion worthy of Texags.

Demosthenes81 said:

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I can't wait for the confirmation hearing when the dems go after his tattoos.






Hell, just having a SecDef with a bicep will be mind blowing to the left.

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Plus the Gig'Em!

K2-HMFIC said:

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Teslag said:

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K2-HMFIC said:

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suburban cowboy said:

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Logos Stick said:

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Context and info on this guy?

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Handsome and a ladies man but….

He actually loves America

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I mean that's great and all, but can we have some more qualifications for a guy that controls the military 24/7.

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21 year military officer, served in combat, infantry, double bronze star

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Cool…he survived.

Chris Miller, Wilkie, Bridge Colby…all VASTLY more qualified…AND confirmable.


There's a real chance Hegseth bows out before the process even starts.

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Erik Prince, this is the trial balloon.

Demosthenes81 said:

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I can't wait for the confirmation hearing when the dems go after his tattoos.






Hell, just having a SecDef with a bicep will be mind blowing to the left.

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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ttu_85 said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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What makes him qualified to run the Dept. of Defense other than his anti-woke(which is important)?

---

Combat soldier.
Obviously will not put up with distracting BS.
Seems to think a military's job is to deter aggression by having the ability to kick ass and not be an incompetently led social experiment.

These alone make this pick far better than anything a demwit president would pick.

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Why is what a demwit would pick even part of the conversation?

I've not found any evidence that he knows how to run such a large organization with such a large budget. That's a little concerning.

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Compare and contrast how bad it would be if Harris had won. And because I wanted too.

redcrayon said:

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knoxtom said:

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He has one qualification for this position, he says yes to anything Trump says.

This guy is second in command of the entire US military and his highest rank is a captain in the national guard.


Only the best people right.

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knoxtom! How was your election night?? Didn't see you on here!

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Election night was exactly as expected, just a little quicker than expected. I went to bed a little early as I just had a second major surgery on my chest and was surprised to see the election was already called in the morning. But I was sure that Trump would win so it was no big surprise.


You need to step back and look at the Sec Def pick.

He has never lead anyone in any job he has had
His highest rank in the military is Captain and that was in the Nat Guard
He has never planned a single operation in the military
His stated goal is to tear down large swaths of our military


I'm not attacking all of his selections, I am attacking one. This guy will be number two in the ENTIRE US MILITARY and has never done anything leadership wise except put on makeup and shill for Trumpy. He is marginally more qualified than the guy who sacked my groceries at Kroger 2 days ago.


Cheer for the other picks, this is a bad pick and you know it. Fox and Friends weekend anchor to Sec Def. That is a joke.

oldag941 said:

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I think the point is experience in general. Not just military. That may be one aspect and important to some. But other experience is also being discussed here. Leading and managing. It's not a military role so that cannot be the sole discussion point. When listing those other SECDEFs, yes, their military experience may be "light", but their other experience typically was more than Hegseth. That's the comparison. Overall background and overall experience. Not right or wrong but definitely a good discussion worthy of Texags.

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And how did they turn out? Most of them were terrible. The definition of insanity. Let's just do what we always do and hope it turns out well this time. It's called the industrial military complex. It's not a good thing. It's built by decades of beaucrats and guys with great resumes who have squandered trillions of money and millions of lives on stupid wars. Trump is hiring an outsider to shake things uo. The whole organization is corrupt and an embarrassment. You need an outsider willing to shake things up.

K2-HMFIC said:

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JB99 said:

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oldag941 said:

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I don't have a confidant, but have served with some of these men. And they are continuing to serve. I can say your confidant is painting with too broad a brush. So much of that is tied to personality. There is a whole group of retired generals and admirals that signed up to support Trump. To some extent, the senior leaders actions are a product of their CEO (the President). Just like in any other business. But I would be careful to paint with such a broad brush. There are some badass war fighters leading today. Lopping them off would be like "cutting off your nose to spite your face".

---

And how did that work out last time? He hired super qualified guys he didn't know very well and they sabotaged him

---

He knows Miller and Colby.

We're not arguing it's one or the other...you can have competency and know the guy.

Hegseth is a news anchor.

That's it...thats what he's spent the majority of his life doing.

---

He's literally been in the military longer than he's been a news anchor.

Quote:

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He has never lead anyone in any job he has had

His highest rank in the military is Captain and that was in the Nat Guard

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Lying about him isn't a good look if you're trying to appear credible. He was a major. The national guard of today isn't what it was. He led troops in the field in combat deployment, and served in a staff and supervisory role in another.

Would remind everyone that the secretary of defense is a civilian position. No military experience whatsoever is required. Current rules require any secretary to be retired from the military for at least 7 years before accepting the position unless there is a waiver granted.

The position is designed to exist outside of the military leadership structure.

The only thing that concerns me about this pick is the lack of organizational leadership experience and a lack of experience in knowing how to deal with bureaucracy. It's a skill set that has to be developed with experience. It is also very much a political position and one that carries with it the need for great diplomacy, both domestically and internationally.

Don't have a problem with him going to DOD, maybe in an undersecretary role. Would prefer someone with a bit more experience.

e=mc2 said:

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Another money pick! Popular veteran!

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I guess no experience needed? I don't know enough about the guy other than he served and supports Trump so I don't have anything bad to say about him. I'm just curious about how they select folks to be in charge of such a critical department that manages billions in funding.

ETA: Actually, I look into the guy, he seems very smart with a long military history. Maybe not the standard type of previous picks but I think he looks good.

WTF is Trump doing? Oh my . This makes zero sense to me. Pete's gonna run the defense department as a former national guard man and current tv personality??

I think too much experience has been the problem with cabinet picks for decades.

It's a hindrance, not a feature.

Timberwolf said:

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WTF is Trump doing? Oh my . This makes zero sense to me. Pete's gonna run the defense department as a former national guard man??

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I was initially concerned but after looking at his background, he's more qualified than I thought. Looks like his military service is still active since 2003 and he served in Afghanistan. I'd imagine he's smart enough to surround himself with good people to help him where he feels he's deficient. Got to be enormously better than allowing Hillary to be Sec of State.

knoxtom said:

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redcrayon said:

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knoxtom said:

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He has one qualification for this position, he says yes to anything Trump says.

This guy is second in command of the entire US military and his highest rank is a captain in the national guard.


Only the best people right.

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knoxtom! How was your election night?? Didn't see you on here!

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Election night was exactly as expected, just a little quicker than expected. I went to bed a little early as I just had a second major surgery on my chest and was surprised to see the election was already called in the morning. But I was sure that Trump would win so it was no big surprise.


You need to step back and look at the Sec Def pick.

He has never lead anyone in any job he has had
His highest rank in the military is Captain and that was in the Nat Guard
He has never planned a single operation in the military
His stated goal is to tear down large swaths of our military


I'm not attacking all of his selections, I am attacking one. This guy will be number two in the ENTIRE US MILITARY and has never done anything leadership wise except put on makeup and shill for Trumpy. He is marginally more qualified than the guy who sacked my groceries at Kroger 2 days ago.


Cheer for the other picks, this is a bad pick and you know it. Fox and Friends weekend anchor to Sec Def. That is a joke.

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This may lead to an internal Pentagon War between the Joint Chief of Staff and all the Service Chiefs, career civilians vs National Guardsman who despite his academic and literature production has little understanding of the Defense Industrial complex.. Get the popcorn out.. cause this will be fun. Hopefully this doesn't impact the national security, nuclear arms or GPC activities. '27

Him being in the Individual Ready Reserve means he doesn't currently serve. He's just in a big holding bin to get called up if needed. I really question the wisdom by both Trump and Pete on this one. Really makes me nervous you hand the keys to this guy.

While he may not end up being the best pick, I think many of you have no idea what any of the agency secretaries do. Do you have any idea how many layers of management in these organizations there are? Political appointees are not managing staff or leading teams...they are effectively figureheads/politicians/high-level decision makers. I wouldn't even compare them to CEOs.

I expect the Senate to deny confirmation.

fc2112 said:

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I expect the Senate to deny confirmation.

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That's assuming the straw polling shows he's close to having enough votes. If it's not close at all, he'll be asked to withdraw his nomination to save him the embarrassment.

Tony Franklins Other Shoe said:

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If it makes Fauxcahauntus go on the warpath, I'm all for the pick.

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When all the right pigs are squealing you know you have the right guy.