Washington Post Reporting on SecDef Hegseth's Dysfunctional Department of Defense and the Old Colonel's Take on His Performance

On 27 May 2025, the day after Memorial Day, this article appeared in the Washington Post.  

Within Pete Hegseth’s divided inner circle, a ‘cold war’ endures

 

At the Pentagon, personality conflicts persist and inexperience reigns, fueling speculation about Pete Hegseth’s long-term viability in Trump’s Cabinet.

 

By Dan Lamothe, 28 May 2025

 

An enduring rift among Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s cadre of senior advisers has divided the Pentagon’s front office and fueled internal speculation about his long-term viability in the Cabinet post after several episodes that attracted White House scrutiny, according to numerous people familiar with the matter.

 

The article goes on to describe a Pentagon in chaos and a dysfunctional Office of the Secretary of Defense. Although lengthy, Lamothe lays out a compelling argument that Hegseth’s inner circle is too busy fighting amongst themselves and playing one-ups-manship jockeying for position to carry out the business of keeping this country safe. Don’t take my word for it, it’s well worth your time to read Dan Lamothe’s entire article at:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/05/27/hegseth-advisers-pentagon-trump/

As I often do, I posted my take on the article in the WaPo comments section and here is my evaluation of the former “FOX & Friends” personality, former Army National Guard Major and now present United States Secretary of Defense, the Honorable Peter B. Hegseth.

Of all of Trump’s Cabinet appointees, Hegseth is by far the least qualified. His ill advised dismissal of highly respected and performing senior uniformed leaders including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; Chief of Naval Operations; the Director of the National Security Agency; and the Judge Advocates General of the Army, Navy and Air Force has caused unnecessary chaos and dissension in the ranks. He has done more to degrade Military readiness in 100 Days than Biden did in 4 years and that’s saying something. His “Signalgate” blunder not only exposed him as incompetent but also called into question the competence of everyone on the call. I predict Hegseth will have worn out his welcome at the Pentagon by the end of the Summer and Trump will be forced to fire him.

As for “Signalgate,” I am a retired 30 year service Army Full Colonel with a Pentagon G-3 tour and combat battalion and brigade level commands and in my opinion anyone that can’t recognize this below exchange over non-secure communications as a serious compromise of highly classified operational information does not belong in any Government position responsible for National Defense. As a matter of fact, everyone participating in this forum that did not immediately intervene to curtail this serious Security breach is equally at fault. Heads should roll!

Judge for yourself, here is the exact text of SecDef Hegseth’s “Signalgate” Message:

"TEAM UPDATE: TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch. 1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package). 1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s),"

"1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package). 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets). 1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched … Godspeed to our Warriors."

Waltz later wrote "The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”

Vance replied, "Excellent.”