Overview

• An internal Air Force email shows all personnel must watch or read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s September 30 Quantico address and review related policy memos by October 31, a directive the Pentagon confirmed.
• Hegseth’s speech declared a return to the "Department of War," scrapped DEI initiatives, reinstated stricter fitness rules, and ended grooming and gender‑expression accommodations, while urging dissenting officers to resign.
• The recent firing of Navy chief of staff Jon Harrison intensified unease, with multiple defense officials saying the move came after pressure from newly sworn‑in Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao.
• Navy Secretary John Phelan was informed only after Harrison’s dismissal, and the White House said President Trump has full confidence in Hegseth’s personnel decisions.
• Current and former officials describe a growing culture of intimidation as unexplained removals and top‑down directives follow earlier leadership purges, including the February ouster of Joint Chiefs Chair C.Q. Brown.