An upbeat assessment

 

Austin Bay assesses President Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense.

Pete Hegseth has a very fine mind -- a mind strategically informed by a superb military combat record and some 20 years of active duty and reserve Army service. Dodging bullets and crawling through mud at 0200 hours are physically grueling and mentally sobering experiences. A soldier learns firsthand spinmeisters in Congress and the faculty lounge usually know zero to zip about real-world military challenges.

Based on what he's done in battle as well as said on the record, Hegseth understands the Pentagon's Job One is fielding an American military that is stronger, better prepared and deadlier than any other military on the planet. That means recruiting and training disciplined military personnel who can operate everything from submarines to space craft. That means buying and deploying weapons that not only work but outclass all adversaries, current and future.

Moreover, Hegseth strikes me as having reformist moxie, the confidence, focus and energy required to overhaul the bureaucrat-ossified, morale-degraded and recruit-starved Department of Defense the Biden administration has left the American people.

Hegseth's Bronze Star medals and moxie make him a natural enemy of the Beltway Clerks that infest Washington, the sallow political menials like Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who never had time to wear a military uniform but excel at looking serious while lying about the Afghanistan withdrawal.

So, yes, he's a fine choice for Donald Trump's secretary of defense.

There's more at the link, including suggestions as to what Secretary Hegseth should tackle as his first priorities.

My take on it is that Hegseth is a combat veteran, decorated for valor in action.  That, right there, gives him a perspective on defense that no civilian or bureaucrat lacking it could possibly possess.  He won't just be looking at structures and systems from an organization point of view, but asking "How does this help the fighting man at the point of the spear?"  That's exactly the perspective we need, IMHO.

Furthermore, my assessment of President Trump's cabinet choices is heavily weighted towards left-wing progressive opposition to them.  The more the left is outraged, the more they scream about the unsuitability of each candidate, the stronger that candidate becomes in my mind.  The Biblical perspective is "By their fruits ye shall know them";  but their enemies (and their friends) also say a great deal about them.  By that standard, Hegseth looks better and better . . .

Peter