Stephen Losey, Navy Times; Pentagon cuts off Hegseth town hall webcast after transparency pledge
"The Pentagon cut off a webcast of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first town hall with troops and department employees Friday as soon as questions began, and shortly after Hegseth promised to be transparent with service members and the public.
Hegseth delivered about 15 minutes of opening remarks, which touched on issues such as grooming standards, readiness, border security and the administration’s desire to root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the military, before opening the floor to questions...
The broadcast ended less than two minutes after Hegseth pledged to be open with service members and the public.
“I appreciate the service so many of you give,” Hegseth said. “I know so many people watching. It’s the honor of a lifetime to come alongside you. No one will work harder. No one’s going to be more — attempt to be more transparent with the American people and with you.”
When asked a follow-up question about why the department stopped broadcasting when questions began, the Pentagon’s press office said, “The [defense secretary’s] opening remarks were televised to allow a larger audience. The Q&A portion was open to in-person participants only.”
It does not appear the Pentagon broadcast any portion of town halls held by Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin.
However, the Pentagon did not indicate in its Friday morning email announcing Hegseth’s town hall that the questioning portion would not be broadcast. The webpage with the town hall feed originally indicated the broadcast was scheduled to run for about an hour and a half...
Hegseth said one of his top priorities is “restoring the warrior ethos,” before harshly criticizing the Pentagon’s previous focus on improving diversity in the ranks.
“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is, ‘Our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth said. “I think our strength is our unity. Our strength is our shared purpose, regardless of our background, regardless of how we grew up, regardless of our gender, regardless of our race. In this department, we will treat everyone equally, we will treat everyone with respect and we will judge you as an individual by your merit and by your commitment to the team and the mission.”
The Trump administration views diversity, equity and inclusion programs — referred to as DEI — as efforts to divide the military instead of uniting it, Hegseth said.
But the Pentagon’s initial efforts to comply with the administration’s DEI orders have been rocky."
