This Veterans Day, I reflect on an important reality. As the world changes, the armed forces of the world's greatest nation must change with it. I believe change begins at the top, with the Pentagon and the General Officer corps. We must return to promoting leaders who are warfighters, not bureaucratic managers.
Secretary Hegseth is correcting this course. He is restoring a warrior-first military culture, and I understand why. I learned it the hard way. In Benghazi, I witnessed what happens when combat leadership is replaced with hesitation and political caution. Real warriors waited for approval that never came. That failure was not simply foreign policy gone wrong. It revealed a leadership pipeline that rewards compliance instead of courage and career maneuvering instead of battlefield readiness.
In recent decades, the United States suffered strategic setbacks because the system promoted officers who managed processes, relationships, and paperwork instead of learning how to win wars. Success was measured by degrees, polished briefings, and networking inside Washington rather than an ability to train, lead, and fight. A system based on pedigree and politics failed the servicemember and the nation.
As a Marine and later a civilian contractor embedded across our Armed Forces, I saw this from within. Our priorities have drifted away from the mission. The mission of the military is to fight and win. Nothing outranks that.
Promotions must return to being tied to measurable warfighting performance. Not longevity or networking. Not time spent at headquarters. Rank must reflect the ability to lead under fire, to make decisions when chaos is real, and to carry responsibility when men’s lives are on the line. Officers who cannot lead in war should not outrank those who can.
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We need leaders who think and train like warriors. Yet our military has been treated like a professional development program weighed down with ideological distractions. Hours are spent on public relations exercises and social messaging while realistic combat preparation is treated as a secondary task. Troops do not need to be managed to death. They need to be prepared to win. Leadership is not administrative performance. It is the ability to fight and prevail when the stakes are life and death.
This is what stands out about Secretary Hegseth’s approach. He is restoring the expectation that command belongs to those who can execute in battle. Under this direction, the United States can regain unmistakable strength and deterrence. Our servicemembers deserve leaders who demonstrate resilience, discipline, and the will to win, not leaders who are guided by political fear or by the desire to protect their own advancement.
History shows the cost of getting this wrong. In Benghazi, real-time calls for help were ignored by distant decision makers. In the Afghanistan withdrawal, political optics were prioritized over operational reality and innocent lives. Compare that to the successful rescue of Captain Scott O’Grady in 1995, when authority was placed in the hands of trained warfighters closest to the fight. Troops know that micromanagement from far-removed political leadership suffocates initiative and gets warriors killed.
We no longer resemble the force the world once feared. Our fighting men and women deserve leaders with fire in their hearts, not officers decorated with endless ribbons earned for attendance and committee assignments. General Eisenhower commanded the largest invasion force in history with a modest ribbon rack. He did not need ornamentation to prove he was a warrior.
This is not symbolic reform. It is national survival. Our adversaries watch closely. They look for hesitation, confusion, and weakness. They are encouraged by it. When they see a military led by true warriors, they step back. When they see one led by careerists, they advance.
It is time to restore the standard. We must promote leaders who can fight and win, not just those who simply advance through bureaucracy. Our servicemembers deserve leaders who carry the weight of command with courage, clarity, and conviction.
The choice is in front of us. If we want an American military worthy of the nation it defends, we must ensure it is led by those prepared to step forward, accept responsibility, and win.
The path is clear. Now we execute.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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