Former Military Officers Claim They Were Ousted for Challenging Hegseth's Pentagon Directives

Pentagon purge from two highly experienced former military officers who said they were pushed out of their jobs for questioning his directives. To quote one of them, Hegseth is intimidated by people who have real warfighting background and don't just talk about the warfighting ethos. I think he just can't stand people who will call him on his BS. In just a year and a half, Hegseth has already pushed out dozens of senior officials and reportedly blocked the promotions of dozens more, including women and people of color. It must now Pentagon reporter Priya Shreether spoke with those military officials. Rick is still with us. Priya, these officers not only talked to you about the impact on the senior ranks, but the mixed feelings it's creating on active duty troops.

What did they tell you? Yeah, that's right, Alicia. Well, many of them are telling me that they're facing kind of their own moral conundrum. Do they decide to also get out and kind of protest with their feet and retire early? Or is it better for them to stay in their roles just as simply sort of a placeholder so that a quote-unquote loyalist doesn't come in behind them and take their spot? You know, up until this point, the only two of these 25 who recently wrote an op-ed in foreign affairs. And I asked these senior military officers, why aren't you guys speaking out publicly about what happened to you?

And many of them, you know, raised concerns about their pensions being THEY SAID THEY WERE NOT SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, SPEAKING OUT PUBLICLY ABOUT THIS OR EVEN ENCOURAGING SOME OF THEIR FELLOW COLLEAGUES TO QUIT ON MASK WOULD REALLY MOVE THE NEEDLE WITH THIS AND I THINK IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF THE ORGANIZATION THAT IS ONE OF THEM TOLD ME, QUOTE, FOR MANY OF US PART OF IT IS A SENSE OF LOYALTY TO THE ORGANIZATION THAT IS BIGGER THAN THESE WE KNOW IN THE ORGANIZATION THERE ARE STILL SOME GOOD PEOPLE TRYING TO DO GOOD THINGS AND WE DON'T WANT TO SAY THINGS THAT MIGHT HURT THEM. SO REALLY, ALICIA, THEY BELIEVE THAT FUNDAMENTALLY THERE ARE STILL GOOD PEOPLE IN the military. And so even though they feel discouraged about what's happening,

they still have hope for the future. Rick, there was a statement that Priya got from the Pentagon. It reads, not a single general officer or flag A PLUG OFFICER HAS BEEN FIRED RAISING CONCERNS ABOUT ANY ISSUE THAT CHARGE IS COMPLETELY FALSE. IF THEY BELIEVE WHAT THEY SHOULD PUT THEIR NAMES ON THEIR STATEMENTS ON THE RECORD. ISN'T THE FEAR OF REPRISAL THE POINT HERE? WE'VE SEEN HE SET GO AFTER, I DON'T KNOW, SENATOR MARK KELLY TRYING TO DEMOTE HIS RANK, CUT HIS PENSION. THIS ISN'T JUST THEORETICAL. BUT, ALICIA, THAT'S WHAT DECENT IS ABOUT, IT'S ABOUT SACRIFICING YOURSELF FOR THE GREATER GOOD.

I THINK IF THESE OFFICERS IF THEY WOULD PUT THEIR NAMES ON THE STATEMENTS, IT WOULD BE EVEN MORE POWERFUL. BUT THE LARGER PROBLEM IS THAT SECRETARY HEGSETH CANNOT TOLERATE DISSENT. STRONG LEADERS CAN TOLERATE AND WELCOME DISSENT. WEAK LEADERS CAN. THE FACT THAT HE'S PUSHING OUT PEOPLE THAT DISAGREE WITH HIM IS DISTURBING, AND IT ALSO VIOLATES WHAT MAKES THE AMERICAN MILITARY SPECIAL. WE HAVE HAD CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP OF THE MILITARY SINCE OUR FOUNDING, AND WE'VE HAD OFFICERS WHO PROTESTED about things that were happening in the military, and that's one reason our military was able to adjust.

The fact that he is reacting like an authoritarian leader and an authoritarian regime where officers can't say no, is something that's disturbing and goes against the history of our military and what makes our military special. Prig, given that atmosphere where dissent and public dissent especially is THE PENTAGON IS SO DIFFICULT. HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE THE OVERALL MORALE INSIDE THE PENTAGON? WELL, I WOULD SAY THERE'S DEFINITELY A SENSE OF PARANOIA AS YOU GUYS JUST OUTLINED. MANY OF THESE SENIOR military officers really do believe that it's part of their job to advise the secretary of defense on a number of issues that are

currently being debated by lawmakers on the hill and IN THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, THE LEGALITY OF THOSE SOUTHCOM BOAT STRIKES THAT WERE ALLEGEDLY CARRYING NARCO TERRORISTS AND DRUG TRAFFICKING, THE USE OF THE NATIONAL GUARD IN PEOPLE IN AMERICAN CITIES OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF AND THE END STATE, THE GOALS THE PENTAGON HAS SAID THEY ARE THEM IN IRAN AND WHETHER OR NOT THE STRATEGY IS WORKING. SO I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE FEELING AS THOUGH THEY ARE NOT EMPOWERED TO SPEAK I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE PENTAGON HAS SAID THAT THEY ARE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE, THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO STREAMLINE LEADERSHIP AND REDUCE THE NUMBER OF FLAG AND GENERAL OFFICERS. BUT IF THAT'S THE CASE, WHY THIS IS NOT HAPPENING IN ISOLATION,

THIS IS HAPPENING WHILE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE HAS REPEATEDLY SAID THAT HE BELIEVES THAT A LOT OF THOSE PROMOTIONS WERE PART OF SOME SORT OF WOKE AGENDA AND DEI CULTURE WHERE THESE PEOPLE WERE PROMOTED NOT BASED ON MERIT BUT TO MEET SOME SORT OF QUOTA. I THINK THE WOMEN SPECIFICALLY AND THE PEOPLE OF COLOR WHO ARE REMAINING IN THE ACTIVE DUTY THEIR OWN FUTURES, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE FACT THAT OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS WE'VE SEEN SO MUCH PROGRESS WITH THE LIFT OF THE BAN ON WOMEN IN COMBAT COMPETITION OF ADMIRAL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORTED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE THIS YEAR THERE WILL BE NO WOMAN BEING PROMOTED TO THE RANK THE CASE OF ADMIRAL IN THE ACTIVE-DUTY NAVY, ALICIA.