Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 04/28/2025 6:09:14 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
The last time there was a War Department, Hollywood still made most of its movies in black and white, and Americans were falling in love with a new entertainment device called the TV set. They cost an average of $400 each.
The year was 1949.
In at least one respect, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to turn the calendar back to that time. The nation’s military forces were organized under the War Department, and Hegseth believes that term, with its bold martial overtones, better suits his desire to remake the armed services to emphasize fighting and killing.
The Trump administration has yet to formally propose renaming the Defense Department. But students of the military say Hegseth’s talk about doing so should not be taken lightly. They say it could signal a desire to free combat forces from legal restraints meant to protect civilians — rules of war Hegseth has derided as fussy, burdensome and dangerous to American soldiers.
(Excerpt) Read more at expressnews.com ...
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Hegseth esteems “warrior culture” and refers to sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marine as “warfighters.” The rhetoric goes hand-in-hand with his oft-expressed disdain for the rules of war and a simmering resentment of military lawyers, who he says have handcuffed troops in the field.
“Sure, our military defends us. And in a perfect world it exists to deter threats and preserve peace,” Hegseth wrote in his best-selling 2024 memoir, “The War on Warriors — Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”
"But ultimately its job is to conduct war. We either win or lose wars. And we have warriors, not ‘defenders,'" he wrote. "Bringing back the War Department may remind a few people in Washington, D.C., what the military is supposed to do, and do well."
The progs heads are going to explode.
Good. Better to help set the narrative of what our military is supposed to do.
Democrats probably want to rename the Defense Department to the Woke We Hate White Straight Men And We Have To Promote Diversity Everywhere Department.
Nobody doubted the lethally of the US military back then. Totally understand what Hegseth is trying to accomplish and why - the best and usually only way to win a war in the nuclear age is to keep it from happening in the first place.
Deterrence is a good thing and something we have lost over the years thanks to Clinton, Obama and Biden and need to regain.
This cracks me up because of my WWII vet father. As a kid I would ask him about doing something adventurous together and he’d say, “We’ll have to run that by the War Department.”
The War Dept was Mom.
I take it he wouldn’t really go for the “Department of Peace” either.
We Kill So You Don’t Have To.
Department of “Defense” encompasses only half of war effort.
Unfortunately, since WWII, given that we never tried to win wars but at best play for ties, it accurately describes our current political strategies.
On nation on permanent defense eschews the necessary offense to win wars.
So, yes, let’s make it the War Department, and maybe we can have victory parades over vanquished enemies once more.
And that’s a great thing. WAR DEPARTMENT for the win.
The main purpose of DOD/War department is to put ordnance on target. All the other fluff distracts and detracts from the mission.
Department of Killing People And Breaking Their Things
I’d be happy if it was changed to Department of FAFO.
Same in many families of our era
“…better suits his desire to remake the armed services to emphasize fighting and killing.”
Hahaha. San Antonio express news. Why Texas comfortably sits on a conservative reputation so comfortably I don’t know All the cities are blue. This liberal rag wouldn’t go talk to any of the multiple generals in this military town for anything, but they’re liberal so they know all, even what motivates the DOD head.
Lmao, I like they way you think.
I always thought Defense was BS. If we’re gonna wait till it hits our shores, maybe just have a militia. The point of this department was always to fight the nation’s wars, to aid whatever temporary allies needed to keep the larger threat at bay, or to stomp the other guy before he gets at us. The best defense being a good offense, and all that. Not letting the other guy conquer the rest of the world before getting to us is always a good idea.
Will require showing all the lawyers the door.
that’s funny
Nah, recognize reality and change the name to Department of Offense.
Jerry Pournelle on the Department of War and Department of the Navy.
“Machiavelli believed that Republics that did not employ conscription probably would not survive. Having the children of rich and poor alike involved in war affects whether or not a republic goes to war. The US ‘solution’ to this for most of its lifetime was to keep the Marines a voluntary organization and employ the Marines when it was an operation short of war. The Corps was kept rather small. Marines and the Navy belonged to the President, but if you needed to involve the Army that was the Department of War and required Congressional action. Conscription was needed in preparation for actual wars, as in the leadup to WW II. But it’s another discussion.”
I’d be against just a plain renaming of the DoD.
Today, you would probably need a Department of War (Army and some of the Air Force), Department of the Navy (including Marines) and a Department of Strategic Forces (Space Force and the rest of the Air Force). And that all gets ugly from an inter-service rivalry perspective.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.