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In short, if it succeeds, this tactic can help enable Hegseth’s effort to politicize the military and further his aspirations to turn it into a partisan/personal ally. 12/end

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Second, it helps pundits sympathetic to Hegseth’s policies rationalize the actions he takes that they find distasteful. They can selectively ignore the bad bits, in favor of the good. 11/

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This helps Hegseth launder his image as a serious policymaker, while still signaling to the military that its members should fall in line with his worldview. 10/

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Why might Hegseth be using this tactic? First, it distracts ppl from his ideological messaging; pundits might be inclined to tune out his inflammatory statements and focus on his reasonable-ish policies. 9/

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But, while the directive explicitly does not say who to vote for, and fosters an image of nonpartisanship, Hegseth may be counting on these being Republican votes, as the officer corps has long leaned that way (somewhat less so for enlisted). 8/

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Third, is his directive to give troops the day off to vote in the midterms. This sounds reasonable and even civically minded and would be for another administration, esp. if other federal workers were included. 7/

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But, at least for now, the metric for what constitutes “warfighting” is undefined, likely by design. This leaves the services to read the tea leaves abt Hegseth’s intent, yielding lots of potential subjectivity in determining who passes & much room for “lethality” to dominate over other skills. 5/

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Next is his recent establishment of the Joint Warfighter Evaluation--a written/AI/live wargaming test that all candidates in the services must pass before being promoted to admiral/general. On the surface testing officers for their operational acumen seems reasonable. 4/

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Hegseth’s new ‘field manual’ for troops is filled with his speeches

But the speech also reiterates his ideological litmus-test for service members (“no beardos, no weirdos” & you can leave the military if you don’t like what I am saying), while handing out a compendium of his speeches, deemed a “field manual,” to attendees. www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...

the-independent.com

The 144-page manual was handed out ahead of Hegseth’s ‘State of the Force’ address

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Hegseth Unveils New Command to Oversee Military-Drone Tech

First, take his Sept. 30 State of the Force speech to service members at Quantico in which he proposed the establishment of a new combatant command for drones/robots/AI and an initiative to study future war. Seems relatively substantive at first glance. 2/ See here: www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

wsj.com

In speech at Marine Corps base, defense secretary also said Elon Musk would help the Pentagon study the future of warfare.

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

With Hegseth in the news this week, I’ve noticed him using a particular rhetorical tactic: packaging highly ideological messaging to the military & public w/ (superficially) reasonable & substantive policy proposals. Before I explain what he is up to and why it matters, here are three examples:

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That cultural argument is more present in his dissertation which this book is based on, but it still comes through in the book in places.

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

His argument that Arab culture is the cause of Arab states‘ military ineffectiveness has been pretty widely critiqued, esp. as he neglects the negative impacts of their autocratic systems and civ-mil relations. If you want some context see here: www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4...

jstor.org

Client Challenge

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Appreciate you and all your incredible work.

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To be sure, it is positive that those replacing fired mil ldrs are largely qualified for those roles. But I would not go so far as to say politicization is not happening. 6/end

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To be sure, it is positive that those replacing fired mil ldrs are largely qualified for those roles. But I would not go so far as to say politicization is mostly not happening. 6/end

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The fact that women & Black ppl have been disproportionately targeted in firings & had promotions quashed signals that officers vying for key positions/promotions are subject to extra scrutiny, regardless of their qualifications. This, too, is politicization. 5/

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Firing people without cause or based on alleged political views (or because of who they once worked for) forces ppl who might be suspect to reevaluate their career prospects. Others simply won't want to serve in a military that selects on partisan or ideological criteria. 4/

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Politicization here may take the form of mil ldrs self-censoring in offering forthright advice to superiors or even speaking openly to subordinates. They may refrain from affirming organizational values and stewarding the profession out of fear they will attract scrutiny from civilians. 3/

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The very fact that the officers were fired in the first place matters. Jettisoning senior officers without explanation/cause creates perverse incentives for the rest of the officer corps. It potentially undercuts their willingness/ability to meet their professional obligations. 2/

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I appreciate @kschake.bsky.social's efforts to shed light on these vital issues, but I am less sanguine Politicization operates through multiple mechanisms not captured by analyzing the credentials or past partisan commentary of senior officers replacing those who have been fired. 1/

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Definitely makes it more concerning

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Appreciate the clarifying intervention on your part. I did intend it as directed toward the civilian side, but could see how someone could take it otherwise (the pitfalls of social media)

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Adding that there are many current and former professional officers in the U.S. military who are also very concerned about civilian-led efforts to promote partisanship in the ranks.

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Caroline Baxter @convergingriskslab.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

As someone who studies politicization of democratic militaries this statement on X is a five- alarm fire. It creates an undeniable permission structure for overt partisan behavior by mil. It's part of a concerted effort by civilian leaders to turn the U.S. military into a partisan aligned force.

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Reposted by Risa Brooks

I served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Education and Training for three years before the office was disestablished last year. I owned the policy on professional military education for all five services. I have listened to Secretary Hegseth's announcement. I have thoughts. 🧵

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Im really sorry to hear this, Kori.

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

This is the logical endpoint of the Pentagon‘s current “lethality“ fixation - destroying things is the point. It also reflects its civilian leaders’ disregard, if not open contempt, for strategic thinking and the skills & intellectual preparation that support it.

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Just sharing this as some have raised questions about the credibility of this particular story (not to negate the many other things we should be worried about with respect to the war). #civmilsky www.friendlyatheist.com/p/before-you...

friendlyatheist.com

Before you share that story about how troops were told the Iran War is for "Armageddon," read this

The narrative is dramatic. The sourcing is thin. And skepticism matters, especially on something this serious.

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Last week in class we talked about the possibility of an imminent war w/Iran. Most of my undergrads barely had it on their radar. I talked abt the GWOT wars & the lessons (not) learned. By the end of the class they were also pretty dismayed and many were filled w/ dread.

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Random intervention to your discussion. But I think that maybe you all correct? The term is not new, but the larger context and intent is different now. That is, it’s part of a larger agenda in a way it was not in the past

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Curious if any of you see this policy shift on sharing information about strikes as part of an overall skepticism on the need for transparency with the public that I am detecting in other DoD areas?

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Hopefully, this all remains hypothetical. But given everything else, I am worried. /end

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Column | Pete Hegseth seems open to ordering soldiers to shoot protesters

The Pentagon's civilian ldrs seem unlikely to counsel restraint. Example: see how H avoids answering directly when asked by Sen. Hirono during his confirmation hearing abt whether he would oppose orders to shoot protesters (like Esper did in 2020).6/ www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department indicates he would be willing to do what Mark Esper refused to do.

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Also worth remembering, if reg military is deployed w/ Insurrection Act it will need to follow the law, but can be asked to carry out legal law enforcement activities putting troops in direct contact with civilians.5/ Mil commanders are likely to act cautiously, BUT . . .

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As for the lgr military, this will divide Americans views of it. No matter what service members do, some ppl will see following any orders as complicity in the ICE agenda. Others will applaud the deployment. Polarizing attitudes abt the military is a feature not a bug of the admin's goals. 4/

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Also, while service members are well trained, they are not immune from societal divisions. Some may sympathize w observers/protesters & others w/ ICE. Normally troops keep pol views private while serving, but such a high pressure situation cld lead to breakdowns in discipline or perhaps worse. 3/

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Baseline is U.S. military would aim to comport itself professionally unlike ICE. Still it is not trained for these ops., doesn't work w/ law enforcement normally & this is a pressure cooker of a situation See 1992 incident in LA when Marines fire into a house due to a miscommunication w/police: 2/

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