Overview

• An internal directive confirmed by the Pentagon requires all service members to watch or read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s September 30 Quantico address and review associated policy changes by October 31, according to a wing-wide email at Joint Base Langley–Eustis.
• The order circulates Hegseth’s rebranding to a “Department of War” and policy shifts including reinstated combat-fitness standards, twice-yearly testing, and stricter grooming rules that end prior accommodations.
• Hegseth last week abruptly fired Navy chief of staff Jon Harrison, a move that Navy Secretary John Phelan learned about after the fact; multiple reports say the decision followed objections from new Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, and the White House voiced confidence in Hegseth.
• Senior defense officials describe an expanding “culture of fear” driven by unexplained firings and top-down control, warning it is discouraging dissent on key military decisions.
• At Quantico, Hegseth told officers uneasy with his agenda to resign, and President Trump spoke of an “enemy within” and suggested using U.S. cities as training grounds, comments that critics say risk politicizing the force and raise legal questions.