Posted on 01/13/2025 5:02:51 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
EXCLUSIVE – President-elect Trump's nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, was described as an "incredibly talented, battle-proven leader," according to a copy of military evaluations obtained by Fox News Digital.
Hegseth is set to face a Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, where lawmakers are expected to grill the 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News host on his ability to lead the Department of Defense. A leading critic of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the military, Hegseth has been under scrutiny in recent weeks over his qualifications.
Fox News obtained copies of past performance evaluations describing Hegseth's "outstanding" leadership skills over the years of his military service, including deployments to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hegseth deployed with the New Jersey National Guard to Guantánamo Bay, where he was leader of a 39-man Air Assault Infantry Rifle platoon capable of deploying anywhere within the world within 36 hours.
In an officer evaluation report covering April 2005 to January 2006, Hegseth received "outstanding performance" and was described as "an incredibly talented, battle-proven leader."
"Having taken charge of his platoon mere days before deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he effectively led his platoon through five months of combat," the report read. "He planned and executed platoon operations ranging from air assault raids to the defense of a forward operating base (FOB)."
During his tour as platoon leader, his evaluators said Hegseth ensured "that his platoon remained physically fit and mentally ready to meet the challenges of protracted missions in demanding conditions."
While serving at FOB Falcon, Iraq, Hegseth's platoon "developed and fortified a platoon sector of the company defense and executed their portion of a continuous defense for three months while planning and executing additional offensive operations."
Under his leadership, the report detailed, Hegseth's...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Military officer evaluations suffer from incredible “inflation” almost the moment they are instituted.
Anything less than a 99% out of 100 is considered a “bad evaluation” and may lead to a failure to be promoted. No one wants to do that to a competent fellow officer, so flowery language and near 100% evaluations become the norm.
I believe Hegseth is an exemplary officer and would make a good secdef. The eval shows he was a good combat officer, not an inconsiderable thing in itself.
Just to throw a little light on how these evaluations work in practice.
Only in 2025 America does the countey not out a premium on outstanding combat leaders. Truly a pathetic government and media that we have.
Sounds like the military hierarchy is just another garden variety bureaucracy.
Number one reason the Dems don’t want him.
Tru that. Not taking away anything from Hegseth and hoping he gets confirmed quickly so he can clean house in the Pentagon, but military evaluations, especially for officers, are mostly fluff.
Except for the time the deeply compromised US Army deemed him an “insider threat” and refused to deploy him with his guard unit to DC.
You are correct in that anything less than an outstanding officer eval will derail your career. It’s been 25 years since I received my last officer eval. But on the flip side, could you imagine how the vultures would circle on him if it wasn’t?
Well, when in first grade he pulled on the ponytail of a little girl in his classroom. Big trouble there.
We don’t want a combat leader. We want someone who will shill for the defense contractors and adroitly steer the needed budget requests through Congress pointing out how it will benefit a controlling group of the members.
War fighting knowledge is irrelevant.
What “we” Kemosabe?
Trump and most of us want a tested, bright, and competent combat leader.
When did we last have a Secretary of Defense who was a veteran? Better still,when did we last have one who was a combat veteran?
The opposition do not want a patriotic SecDef.
Our former ruling class did not believe in American exceptionalism.
They wanted to subordinate the USA to World Government, or were/are directly engaged in selling out the USA to the Chinese.
About 8 of 28 Secretarys of Defense were combat veterans. Both of Trump’s picks, Esper and Mattis, were combat veterans. Biden’s pick, Loyd Austin, is a combat veteran from the first Gulf War in 2003.
Do you really want a platoon leader to run the entire DOD? I’m not saying all Lieutenants are the same, but the scope and breadth of responsibility is just not there! A news presenter and author, not really comparable to managing Millions of people, and Billions of dollars. I think the President should have whom he wants, but there has to be a better candidate.
I am in DC. I am surrounded, miles deep, by neighbors who hold that perspective.
Roger that. Air Defense Artillery was a branch known for "eating their young." I had one of those that got me a letter from Dept of the Army, even though my Group Commander refuted everything my Battery and Battalion Commanders said.
I laughed, crumpled up that letter, and threw it in the waste basket. I had no intention of making the Army a career. I planned on resigning my commission after my tour in Germany was up.
Then a funny thing happened, we had a new Battalion Commander that turned our battalion around. We both ended up back at Fort Bliss, where at his request, I worked for him again. Gave me a chance to fulfill my ultimate objective, as a Battery Commander. I got out a month after my change of command.
Never joined the Guard or Reserves, 8 years was enough for me.
I think Andy forgot the /sarcasm tag. In my view, Pete’s CIB trumps anything a Democrat Senator might offer up against him.
As to managing "billions of dollars", as a 25 YO 1st LT, I was my battalion's S-4 (Supply Officer). Our area of operations encompassed 3 NATO Air Bases, 48 gun and missile systems, and over 600 soldiers.
Wasn't near a billion in 1980 dollars, but it was a lot. I was meant for that slot, considering my bachelors degree was in Public Accounting...and the word got around fast on that. After a couple of years as a Platoon Leader and Executive Officer, I had the confidence and leadership skills necessary to go with that position. I was also detailed by higher HQ to negotiate our Interservice Support Agreement with Spangdahlem AB.
When I returned to Fort Bliss, I worked for my Battalion Commander again, he assigned me to be his Operations Officer, a Lieutenant Colonel's slot, though I was a Captain with a year time in grade (no, there was no pay raise, lol). Our directorate was high visibility, as we were the testing agency for new weapons systems in development. The best part was I met my wife there, lol. Seriously, it was a great job.
Based on my experiences in the Army, I have every confidence in Pete's ability to do the job.
Hegseth is quite a bit more qualified than the Perfumed Princes that have run the DoD since 0bama was in office.
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