Pete Hegseth served in the National Guard for 19 years, leaving as a major in his 19th year. To anyone who served in the military this raises several red flags.
He would have come up for promotion in his 15th thru 18th years. This suggests he was passed over multiple times, even though the promotion rate is close to 70%. In his book he stated he voluntarily left the military in his 19th year because the military was “woke.” His definition of “woke” must be that he’s willing to accept that thousands of white majors were promoted instead of him but he can’t accept that hundreds of Blacks and women were also promoted ahead of him.
If you know any former military members, ask them how many of their fellow soldiers voluntarily left in their 19th year. This just doesn’t compute because serving a few more months to his 20th year would mean that he could retire and receive a check every month for the rest of his life. The more likely scenario is that he was asked to leave. This would help explain his vendetta against Blacks and women. He has pulled senior Black and female officers from responsible positions and deleted their names from promotion lists.
In addition, recently Trump and Hegseth removed a portrait of Chappie James from the Air Force Museum. Chappie James was a fighter pilot who flew 179 combat missions and became the Air Force’s first 4-Star Black general. So Trump, who spent the Vietnam conflict dodging the draft, and Hegseth, who was unwanted by the National Guard, decided that the highly decorated Chappie James, unlike themselves, did not measure up to their vision of a true warrior.
It’s clear that this administration is doing everything possible to remove scientists (because they’re educated), Blacks (because they’re not white) and women (because they’re weak) from responsible positions.
It’s sad that there are millions of MAGA loyalists who fully support these asinine positions.
Frank T. Globokar, Cottonwood Heights