Hegseth declares war on 'fat' generals, troops

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday told the U.S. military’s senior-most officers that he no longer wants to see “fat generals and admirals” or overweight troops.

Addressing a crowded auditorium in Quantico, Va., Hegseth emphasized the need to stick to strict fitness standards, declaring that every service member at every rank is required to take a physical fitness test, and meet height and weight requirements twice a year.

“Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation and see fat troops,” he said. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon leading commands around the country and the world."

"It's a bad look. It is bad, and it’s not who we are," he continued.

Hegseth gathered the officers at a military base in Quantico to reinforce his vision for the Defense Department, earlier announcing that the U.S. military will require those in combat jobs to meet the "highest male standard only” of their service’s physical fitness test.

“I don’t want my son serving alongside troops who are out shape, or in a combat unit with females who can’t meet the same Combat Arms physical standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their assigned weapons, platform, or task, or under a leader who was the first but not the best,” Hegseth said. "Standards must be uniform, gender-neutral, and high."

Hegseth has repeatedly emphasized that U.S. troops meet new fitness requirements as part of a broader effort to return to what he says is the military’s “warrior ethos.” 

He has frequently been filmed working out with service members at bases around the globe, and on Tuesday pointed to these physical fitness exercises as the standard he expects all U.S. troops to follow.

“It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the Secretary of War can do regular, hard [physical training], so can every member of our joint force,” he said, referring to his new title under the Trump administration’s designation.

“Today at my direction, every member of the joint force, at every rank, is required to take a PT test twice a year, as well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year, every year of service,” he said.