Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has ordered changes to the military’s education system that prioritize skills to help the United States win wars, coming amid calls for him to be impeached.
“The fundamental purpose of the Armed Forces of the United States is to fight and win our Nation’s wars,” his Nov. 9 memo reads. “There is no substitute for victory. For too long, academic drift in our Professional Military Education enterprise, specifically our Senior Service Colleges, traded combat readiness for theory and indulged ideological distractions over practical warfighting.”
The military’s leadership, the memo states, “must confront strategic failures with unsparing honesty and mandate competitive wargaming and decision-forcing rigor” because of a “responsibility to the American people to forge leaders of unmatched competence, sound moral judgment, and a resolute warrior ethos.”
In all, the memo detailed 33 directives and reforms to the Senior Service Colleges and Intermediate Level Education, which would go into effect immediately.
A few points, as detailed in a separate news release issued by the Pentagon, include mandating wargame training and examinations, placing “warfighters in the classroom,” shifting to a performance-based contract for newly hired civilian faculty members, and tasking the undersecretary of war for personnel and readiness “to directly track all tasked requirements to guarantee rapid execution.”
According to the memo, the Pentagon is asking that a majority of full-time faculty at top military colleges possess direct military or defense experience.
“Full-time civilian faculty shall primarily consist of individuals with backgrounds in honorable military service, substantial [Department of War] civilian service, Intelligence Community service, or national security experience, while the proportion of purely technical subject-matter experts shall be limited,” the memo reads.
“We will evaluate our educational institutions by a singular standard: ‘Does this program forge leaders who will win America’s wars?’” the memo later states.
“If an activity, course, or policy does not contribute directly to lethality, readiness, and strategic victory, it has no place in this Department.”
Since being named to head the Pentagon, Hegseth has attempted to make a number of changes at the department, including referring to the Department of Defense as the Department of War last year. In another example, the department said in late September that it would launch an office of religious affairs.
The Office of Religious Affairs that he announced would advocate for military chaplains and religious support “at the highest level of the Department,” according to a Pentagon statement. It also won’t “compel religious participation, favor one faith, or diminish the rights of personnel of any faith or lack thereof.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) speaks after losing the Republican House primary during an election night watch party at the Marriott Cincinnati Airport in Hebron, Ky., on May 19, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
The move on Monday comes as Hegseth is facing impeachment in the House of Representatives, with outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) filing the articles of impeachment on the same day.
Hegseth defended the administration’s priorities in a Tuesday morning news conference.
The allegations contained in Massie’s resolution include, in part, launching the Iran war without a congressional declaration, abducting a foreign leader, carrying out an illegal war in Yemen, carrying out extrajudicial killings, and attempting to silence the speech of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
“None of these are high crimes or misdemeanors. They’re partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicize our military,” Hegseth told reporters, referring to the effort against him.
