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September 30, 2025
By David Vergun, Pentagon News

Hegseth Says Promotions, Retention to be Based on Meritocracy, Not Quotas

The War Department will focus on lethality and merit, not on political correctness and diversity, said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who spoke today to an audience of hundreds of generals, admirals and senior enlisted personnel at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

"Real toxic leadership is endangering subordinates with low standards. Real toxic leadership is promoting people based on immutable characteristics or quotas instead of based on merit," he said.

The zero-defect mentality in the culture must end, Hegseth said.

"Commanders and [noncommissioned officers] don't take necessary risks or make tough adjustments for fear of rocking the boat or making mistakes. [A] blemish-free record is what peacetime leaders covet the most, [which] is the worst of all incentives," he said.

The department will be overhauling the inspectors general, equal employment opportunity and military equal opportunity processes.

In a memorandum the secretary signed today, titled "Implementation of Military Equal Opportunity and Equal Employment Opportunity Reform Plan," he listed three things these reforms must ensure:

• Complaints are promptly (within 30 days) addressed and dismissed if they lack actionable, credible evidence.
• Favorable personnel actions such as awards, promotions and retirements, involving alleged offenders are only withheld where a preliminary or subsequent investigation indicates that the complaint is likely to be substantiated.
• Those who knowingly submit false complaints and repeatedly submit frivolous complaints are held accountable, pursuant to applicable laws and regulations.

"No more frivolous complaints. No more anonymous complaints," Hegseth said, adding that forgivable mistakes or minor infractions should not stain a warrior's record.

"People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career. Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes, and that's not the business we're in. We need risk takers and aggressive leaders," he said.

While mistakes are forgivable, some things will not be tolerated, including hazing, bullying, racism and sexual harassment. Posting anonymously online to trash commanders, demoralize troops and undermine unit cohesion will also not be tolerated, Hegseth said.

Basic training is being restored to be "tougher."

"We're empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits, ensuring that future warfighters are forged," he said. "Let no warrior cry out from the grave, if only I had been properly trained."