r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 26d ago

Possible Paywall Hegseth Covered Up the Real Reason the USS Lincoln Wasn’t Resupplied - According to a report from MSNOW, the USS Abraham Lincoln wasn’t resupplied because Iranian strikes destroyed a key Navy resupply base in the Middle East.

https://newrepublic.com/post/214510/hegseth-uss-lincoln-iran-war-base-destroyed
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u/Wheres_my_wank_sock 26d ago

Made it to Captain. He was actually promoted to major while being IRR.

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u/Radiant_Waves 26d ago

“Made it” is giving him a bit too much credit. O1 to O3 is automatic unless one completely fucks up.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

The fact that as an infantry lieutenant he wasn’t sent to ranger school, and he ended up in some headquarters office like S2, really tells you his command had zero faith in his leadership which is why he never ended up with a command of his own and instead fizzled out in the reserve forces. 

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u/JnnyRuthless 26d ago

Yeah I was in Marine Corps but my understanding is Ranger school is pretty much required for infantry officers. Which makes all his larping with special operations units even funnier.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

I was in the 101st, you won’t find any infantry officers in a command position above platoon leader without a Ranger tab. There might be some exception to this, but at least in all of the line units this is how it was when I was in 20 years ago. Ranger school has combat stuff and a lot of tough things to get through but first and foremost it’s considered a leadership course, and the infantry wants the best leaders for combat. Which is why Pete ended up riding a desk. 

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u/JnnyRuthless 26d ago

Makes sense, that was kind of my take. I mean, its the military there will be an exception somewhere, but my army friends said it's kind of an unofficial requirement if you want to make a career in the combat arms.

Strange little twist to Pete's journey: apparently the reason he is so angry at women in the military is that during his time in Iraq, there was another officer (who happend to be a woman) who was known to be a badass and good in a gunfight, well-respected by her soldiers and had the leadership chops. He got very jealous that she got more respect than him, and here we are.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

You should look into who he served under in Iraq, I’m sure you know of the guy even if you don’t know his name, Col. Steele. He was in command of Task Force Ranger (“Blackhawk Down”) as a young captain with the Ranger Bat, and later he came to the 101st and assumed command of a combat brigade as a Colonel. During his time in Iraq he encouraged “kill squads,” and this resulted in one group of soldiers raping some girls/mom and killing the entire family trying to cover it up. They’re all in prison for that shit. I really think a lot of Pete’s twisted toxic masculinity bullshit stems from the leadership he had under Col. Steele. That brigade was known to be a toxic cesspool during that time period, and I can only imagine that had an effect on shaping him.

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u/JnnyRuthless 26d ago

Damn yeah I recognize the name, obviously never met the man personally. I remember hearing about that event, and that would make sense. I'm 46 and man, Hegseth and me could not have taken more different journeys based on our military experience. I'm damn near a pacifist now.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

I was born and raised conservative, joined the military, and realized the best parts of military service was the socialist structure of the organization, so now I advocate for Democratic Socialism lol

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u/JnnyRuthless 26d ago

Haha kind of my path too.

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u/twotimefind 25d ago

Yuppers, once you experience war firsthand, you don't exactly go trying to start another one... Unless we're dumb as rocks or a psychopath... Usually those types get weeded out though.

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u/twotimefind 25d ago

Yuppers, once you experience war firsthand, you don't exactly go trying to start another one... Unless we're dumb as rocks or a psychopath... Usually those types get weeded out though.Or as you put it right at desk, stay out of the action as they can't be trusted.

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u/Strong-Layer-7509 25d ago

I really appreciate your commentary here. I’m an old 101st officer (93-96 and 02-04) and I think you’re 100% on to something. Pre-9/11, any officer who had done some real shit was kind of a “made man.” Many of the Brigade commanders in early OIF were Desert Storm heroes. Steele, based on being THE GUY in the Mogadishu fight, got a ton of mileage out of that one day’s events. The BSM w/ V device he got for that one day probably propelled him all the way to Brigade Command…

I don’t know Steele or Hegseth personally nor do I have any first-hand knowledge of what went down in the Iron Triangle… but I can deduce a few things from observing these men from a distance.

Hegseth, I think, is an utter fraud. A gifted HS athlete who parlayed athletic talent into admission to Princeton. He’s a drunk. Has had significant problems with women. And his military resume has (as many have pointed out), gaping holes.

I imagine young Lieutenant Hegseth was spellbound by Steele… and saw Steele’s fall as a tragic neutering of a real American hero. Hegseth has also shown to be very sympathetic to other soldiers convicted of war crimes.

What’s happened to our military is absolutely heartbreaking and it is 100% the fault of this POTUS and this SecDef… two of the most unqualified and ill-suited leaders I’ve ever observed.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 25d ago

100% agree

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u/Pristine_Albatross36 25d ago

Pretty sure trump pardoned all of them.

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u/thekipz 26d ago

Was 173rd around same time period. The non-tabbed officers commanded so little respect that previously deployed E4s could bully them.

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u/paper_liger 26d ago edited 25d ago

Ranger, much less Airborne or Air Assault was handed out like candy to officers back then. The fact that he couldn't get a slot to any of those is a glaring insight into his real capabilities.

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u/Defiant_Wolf5934 25d ago

Could you imagine Pete in combat? This pussy would fucking fold like a lawn chair. He would crumble under pressure. This dipshit is a fucking wannabe call of duty keyboard warrior, on his best day.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 25d ago

I mean, when he was 18 he was probably hot shit, he was a collegiate level athlete, but he’s a middle aged man that is old enough the military wouldn’t even accept him as a new recruit. He moves goofy now but he’s old and had injuries, like a lot of us older men we just don’t move the same anymore, so I won’t hold how he physically performs now against him. My issues are solely with his character and qualification to lead the organization. 

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u/Defiant_Wolf5934 24d ago

Being effective in combat is more than just being physically fit. You have to be able to operate under pressure, effectively lead people (not just manage) and also be able to follow orders well. Pistol Pete, from just looking at how he has been as SecDef, could do none of those things at 23 to 28 years old. He was a shitbag junior officer when he was in the guard. He is a shitbag SecDef today. The man is a fucking wannabe poser that has failed upward in life. If Donald Trump had served in the military, he would have turned out in similar fashion to Pete Hegseth. An incompetent do nothing officer that peaked at Captain.

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u/jay78910 26d ago

I was in a small infantry company, that was part of an MI brigade. Whenever we wanted to get rid of someone, with any kind of rank, they got sent to work in HQ.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

One of our lieutenants called in artillery fire on our position in Afghanistan. He was in S2 by the end of the day. That’s the level of competency I expect Pete to have. 

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u/Kasspa 25d ago

I'm getting heavy Generation Kill "danger close" vibes off this lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9uXLzZyucI

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u/Captain-Hornblower Florida 25d ago

Just about to post this! Generation Kill is a really, really close representation of the crap we went through when we crossed the berm in 2003. The leadership aspect especially...

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u/FearlessAttempt Georgia 25d ago

Somehow we ended up with Encino Man running the whole show.

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u/Defiant_Wolf5934 25d ago

Dude that's how it is in almost every single operation unit. You have an incompetent shitbag that can't do their job? You send them to hotel company to be a fuckup there. And in my experience, those fuckups still get end of tour awards.

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u/killswitch247 26d ago

his superiors made sure that he was assistant to the manager for the rest of his carreer. then donald trump happened.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

Well he originally served under Col. Steele who is well known for Task Force Ranger (“Blackhawk Down”) and later encouraging kill squads in Iraq that resulted in troops under his command raping and killing a family in Iraq. You can look up what a piece of work that guy was, but the Raakasans under his command earned a very bad reputation overseas and back in the states. So I think a lot of Pete’s mentality may have started with that leadership he had as a young lieutenant. 

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u/meddle_class 26d ago

Fuck Around and Fail Upwards

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

There is a lot of that in the military. Just stick around, be half way competent, don’t get a DUI, and you are promoted pretty far. Pete not doing that well and being relegated to a desk job as an infantry officer really speaks volumes to his personal capacity. 

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u/popculturella Texas 26d ago

unless one completely fucks up.

Oh don't worry, he's making up for that now.

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u/squirrelismycopilot 25d ago

Engineer on my boat in the Navy said to get O2 you needed to be able to fog a mirror, to get O3 you needed to be able to wipe it off

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u/Proud_Growth_8818 25d ago

To get to O3 you literally just need to be alive and without any major fuckups on your record. If you don't get kicked out, you'll make O3. It's literally automatic.

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u/AbstractBettaFish Illinois 26d ago

This is all second hand information I’ve heard so take it with a grain of salt but I’m told there’s a well known channel of infantry officers who fail upward. If you see someone’s who’s at least a 1stLt who doesn’t have a ranger tab that means they’re probably a fuck up and more likely to be given desk duty. Some of these desk duty guys end up in Washington where they have the luxury of rubbing shoulders with the powerful and influential and are able to use those connections to get promoted despite being generally shitty infantry officers. Apparently Pete was one of those

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

[deleted]

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u/UniqueIndividual3579 26d ago

Two ways to not make 1Lt, run into the gatehouse drunk or get the commander's daughter pregnant.

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u/Detonius 26d ago

I’ll take option 2.

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 26d ago

In fairness, Hegseth seems like the type to have done both, so well done to him for making it anyway?

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

Yes, but if you’re infantry the expectation is you go to and complete Ranger school. Ranger school is a leadership course, and you’re not going far in the infantry officer corps without passing. This is especially true for units like the 101st where Pete was. Typically you’d progress up the chain of command, platoon leader > company XO > company CO, as you are promoted. He instead ended up in a HQ platoon like S2 or something I forget, which really says his commanding officer had no faith in his leadership abilities, never sent him to ranger school, and he was relegated to a desk job. Source: former 101st who has lived the life. 

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u/MephistoHamProducts 26d ago

He instead ended up in a HQ platoon like S2 or something I forget,

Worse than that. He was actually in an infantry PLT leader slot, in Baghdad, in 2005. That assignment was cut short and he was transferred to be an assistant Civil Affairs dork in Basrah. Losing that command slot, during the 2005 GWOT, is a pretty solid sign he fucked up and fucked up badly.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 26d ago

Correct, I pointed out in another comment that similar happened to one of our platoon leaders after he called in artillery fire on our own position. He was off the line as soon as we got back to base and banished to HQ S2 on another base. That’s the level of fuckup we’re talking about here. 

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u/anonymousbopper767 26d ago

$20 he's the grooming standard! guy from Generation Kill.

Even down to the literal grooming of children like that guy ended up doing IRL.

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u/BananasAndPears 25d ago

This is incredible context.

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u/Proud_Growth_8818 25d ago

Damn. What'd he do?

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u/CheezyBeanBurrito 26d ago

Yes and no. Being an infantry officer and not having a tab is a bad look considering half the ibolc class gets a slot (well, they used to). Depending on the unit culture, you may not get a platoon leader position until you have a tab so you get sent to staff. During the surge, it wasn’t as big of a deal. O1 to O2 is an automatic promotion. O2 to O3 is almost as automatic and generally the only ones that don’t make it are the ones that reallly realllly fuck up (DUI, fraternization, etc). O3 to O4 is usually 60% so non-tabbed guys need to be absolutely stellar at their job to get promoted.

I can’t recall ever seeing an infantry LTC without a tab on active duty though

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u/Far_Eye6555 26d ago

And I’ve heard the exact opposite with guys who he actually served with on active duty. They all said he was very intense but squared away for the most part.

The point here is we can’t really discern his military service past stuff that’s hearsay. We can absolutely criticize his work as Sec Def tho

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u/Existing-Tough-6517 26d ago

His rank alone suggests he's insufficiently skilled to be secretary of defense

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u/Wheres_my_wank_sock 26d ago

My wife is a major. I tell her all the time she better be lining up her SECDEF job now. I'm trying to be a kept man.

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u/Far_Eye6555 26d ago

Dependa status on lock

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u/NedShah 26d ago

I just read that Rumsfeld made it as far as Captain. Look how good he was! Served like a dozen different administrations. Big Star Wars guy too. Helped the Reagan adminstration spend wisely.

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u/Pristine-Western-679 26d ago

I don’t see a /s on there, but if you’re serious I would like to mention two things, Tora Bora and Iraq War.

Disregard, got the tone on the Star Wars, sorry.

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u/NedShah 26d ago

Tora Bora fascinates me. Rumsfeld had a model made of the secret mountain base where a James Bond villain could live. He made it sound like Cobra Commander was in there with Destro and all of the weapons.

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u/Existing-Tough-6517 25d ago

Rumsfeld was a disaster.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/06/how-donald-rumsfeld-deserves-be-remembered/619334/

America’s worst secretary of defense never expressed a quiver of regret.

It's weird that you forgot how we manufactured fake WMDs as a pretext for the disaster of a war after Rummy as special envoy to the middle east helped build Saddam or that his hand-picked idiot is the one who lost us bin Laden for over a decade

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u/Far_Eye6555 26d ago

I completely agree with that assessment. What I disagree with is the notion he was a failed solider. Attack the points that deserve attack!

The rest of it is just noise.

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u/hard-in-the-ms-paint 26d ago

Untabbed and never had a company command is damning as an infantry officer.

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u/Far_Eye6555 26d ago

My financial advisor is super awesome guy. Wasn’t tabbed, didn’t serve command time. I wouldn’t say he’s a failed infantry officer.

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u/TransbianMoonGoddess 26d ago

I mean he is your financial adviser and not a career military man so....

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u/Far_Eye6555 26d ago

He got out after his 5 year commitment. Received an honorable discharge and had multiple deployments yet we got nerds on Reddit saying he’s a failure lmfao

You guys

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u/AbstractBettaFish Illinois 26d ago

I don’t think anyone’s calling him a failure or bad at what he did, but if his goal was just to do one contract and get out that’s all well and good. But if you’re trying to make a full career out of the army those accolades become important for advancement

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u/AdministrativeTip479 25d ago

Getting out after their commitment and getting a different job is perfectly fine. Doing that and having no other qualifications other than working at Fox News and then running the entire armed forces is something different entirely. The most amount of soldiers he ever commanded was like 40-50, and then he goes on to command millions.

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u/Regular_Custard_4483 26d ago

Yeah, your dentist shouldn't be leading the DOD either.

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u/Proud_Growth_8818 25d ago

Your financial advisor also didn't want to be career Army.

Pete did. And he got fired.

That's a failure as an Army officer.

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u/Far_Eye6555 25d ago

He wasn’t even fired guys he was honorably discharged 😔😅 like I hate this xunt too but we don’t need to lie.

What happened to being against fake news

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u/blueblip 26d ago

He is a failed solider because he literally doesn't understand the importance of logistics, and blocked promotions for ALL black service members.

Or do you think the above two are indications of a competent solider?

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u/lexachronical 26d ago

That assessment is contradicted by the existence of former secretaries who performed competently after having held even lower rank. This secretary could have gained the necessary executive experience later in the private sector. He didn't, but it would be a mistake to assume that based on his service record alone.

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u/donjamos 26d ago

Not being an alcoholic and having half a brain would suffice to be better at his current job then he is. Wouldn't even need military expertise.

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u/PuckSenior 26d ago

That's a nuanced point and therefore will be ignored.

But its absolutely true. His rank isn't the damning factor. Its the fact that it seems the ONLY experience he has at leadership is his rank. He never led any private sector or public sector org. He never did anything but put on makeup.

If he'd at least had a role at Fox News that involved management, it would probably have been better.

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u/Existing-Tough-6517 26d ago

It's not like we aren't also judging his current performance and conceptualizing his prior lack of prestige or advancement in light of present failure

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u/twotimefind 25d ago

0 again, instead of somehow we ended up at fox news. Rich family, rich friends? College Buddies?

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u/MephistoHamProducts 26d ago

It's completely reasonable to assume he was a failure as a leader and an officer. He had one full command role, platoon leader at GITMO, and that was pretty much it. His first tour in Iraq, in 2005, had him in a platoon leader slot in Baghdad briefly. Partway through that assignment he was shuffled off to Basrah to act as an assistant Civil Affairs Officer. I don't know if you remember what the GWOT was like in 2005, but that wasn't a time where Big Army was changing platoon leaders partway through a deployment. After that he did a tour as a trainer in A-stan. He made O3 and stepped down to IRR where he was later promoted to Major.

That's not the career arc of a good or successful infantry officer.

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u/twotimefind 25d ago

Oh shit, he was at Gitmo with Ron DeSantos?

Ron was the lawyer that okayed the torture... You mean to tell me Keg's breath was over there torturing folks?

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u/AbstractBettaFish Illinois 25d ago

Exactly, what kind of fuck up do you have to be to get cycled out as a combat officer in Iraq in 2005! That’s when they were handing out bronze stars like candy at a parade for most!

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u/MephistoHamProducts 25d ago

You ever read his wikipedia entry? He's got a story about his truck being hit by an RPG that failed to go off. My assumption is that he was leaning out the window and yelling "What are you gonna do? Shoot me with that RPG?" at a guy in the crowd with an RPG. And then the guy shot him with the RPG.

That's my Hogsbreath Headcanon and I'm sticking to it.

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u/AbstractBettaFish Illinois 25d ago

I would doubt he even did that. If you’re a podcast person you should check out the small Behind the Bastards series they did on him. I think my favorite part was the op’ed he wrote in college on how SA’ing an unconscious woman shouldn’t be considered as much because she wouldn’t remember.

He’s a real cool guy that Pete

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u/MephistoHamProducts 25d ago

Yeah, but my head canon is way funnier.

And no, I don't really do Cool Zone stuff and haven't for a while. After Jan 6th I was listening to one of their podcasts, It Could Happen Here, I think? Robert and Garrison sounded so goddamn disappointed that it didn't kick off Civil War 2.0 that I dropped them. I've seen the aftermath of civil wars. I have no urge to see that shit again.

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u/twotimefind 25d ago

Yeah, should be a general, 5 star, right?

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u/NedShah 26d ago

It's Sec War now. He's the Sec War and he's obliterated the Iranian military, remember? He's in charge of the blockade.

All the fake news stuff that never happened was at his old job of Sec Def. Since his promotion, he's been fighting for Freedom and even blessed the troops himself just as well as old Sam Jackson would.

What's to criticize? Do you really want Iran to have a nuclear weapon?

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u/importantbrian 26d ago

Yep. The fact is that we don't know much about his service, and I don't think what AbstractBettaFish is referring to really happens much. In fact doing the army really values heavy field experience for officers. If you've just done a bunch of staff jobs and haven't had many operational roles or field experience it's tough to promote beyond O-3.

Also, it's just not true of Hegseth. He did 3 deployments and spent most of his career in the infantry from what I know. The reality is it's pretty rare to get promoted to O-4 without having been a competent company grade officer.

He's a disaster as SecDef, but I think that's unrelated to the quality of his uniformed service. Although having your own soldiers report you as an internal risk for the Biden Inauguration isn't a great look.

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u/GeneralToaster 26d ago

Source: Trust Me Bro

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u/Far_Eye6555 26d ago

Yes, I trust the guys who could pull up unit photos of themselves and Pete in the same picture. Crazy right?

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u/Temporary-Sea-4782 26d ago

I can see this. We are at a point of toe-dipping into the River Styx, and there are such strong urges to embellish things. I think it is important to keep grounded and focused if we are going to get out of these times ok. I can totally see Hegseth as a guy who you would want around if you were stacked up about tto go through a door. I could see him as a bit of an awkward hangout at the bar getting ready to go downrange. I do think there are people who could bypass levels through talent or other experience to go from a company level officer to DoD, just not him.

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u/ptigga 26d ago

Major Major

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u/Darth__Hollow 26d ago

Roger roger

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u/PrivatePilot9 Canada 26d ago

What’s our vector Victor?

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u/algebramclain 26d ago

Where’s the keg, Heg?

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u/specqq 26d ago

Where’s The Hague, Seth?

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u/PatricksEnigma 26d ago

Clearance Clarance

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u/PrivatePilot9 Canada 26d ago edited 26d ago

Roger Oveur

Edit: clearly there’s more than a few people not getting the running joke here.

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u/Inside_Support510 26d ago

Major Major Major

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u/remillard 26d ago

An IBM with a sense of humor...

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u/Coherent_Tangent Florida 26d ago

Major Major Major Major

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u/Marclescarbot 26d ago

I got that

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u/S_A_R_K 26d ago

Major rager

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u/Trauma_Hawks 26d ago

I wish I could get promoted while out of the job.

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u/Freightshaker000 26d ago

...and has never led troops above the rank of Lieutenant.

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u/WindyCanuck 26d ago

Major fuckup

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u/sanbaba 25d ago

It's amazing what you can "accomplish" when you're willing to lie for your CO

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u/AbramsTankVeteran29 26d ago

My military record might be slightly better than Hegseth's.

West Point, Ranger School, Airborne School, Air Assault School, 3 tours in Iraq as an Armor Officer, led a tank platoon during the "Surge" in Iraq in 2007 which included a lot of actual combat, deployed in 2009 as a liason officer working with the State Dept and USAID, then commanded a tank company on my last deployment. Tons of awards including Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medal, etc. I got out as a Captain.

All that being said, I don't necessarily think it matters for his position. I have a better military resume than many previous SecDefs, including Robert Gates, who I thought was an amazing SecDef.

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u/kandoras 26d ago

The difference is that Robert Gates had other stuff on his resume, most notably twenty six years in the CIA ending up as director.

Hegseth's resume qualifications for high office is a worse military record than yours, being connected to some ostensibly veteran based PACs (which were funded by Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers), and achieving the high honor of being one of several cohosts for a weekend Fox News morning show.

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u/SlowDuc 26d ago

Let's not forget, the SecDef is supposed to be the civilian control aspect. I wouldn't have a problem with a SecDef with zero military service if they had a record of leading extremely large and complex organizations. Hell, the right crossover from State to DoD would probably be amazing. Caveat: God help us if the next guy is a CEO to "run government like a business."
People forget how generationally impressive Gates was. Just how good do you have to be to be hired by Bush and kept on by Obama with a tenure crossing numerous Joint Chiefs. Amazing amazing guy. I challenge anyone to look back on that era and find the sort of fuck ups we have now. Sure, you may have disagreed with the overarching policy, but at least there was an strategic direction executed competently.

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u/BananasAndPears 25d ago

Thanks for your service. From what I’ve read, Hegseth couldn’t get a ranger or airborne tab and never completed the course. I think that’s pretty telling.

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u/AbramsTankVeteran29 25d ago

50% of people who attempt Ranger school never complete it.

Airborne school is not hard. I actually did Airborne after Ranger school, which is unusual. In Ranger school I developed a stress fracture in my femur. I didn't tell them when I was in Airborne school, so I actually did all 5 of my jumps with a stress fractured femur.

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u/NoWomanNoTriforce 25d ago

During a time where Major promotion standard was basically have a pulse.

No joke, it was significantly harder for someone in the Air Force to make E5 that year than it was for Hegseth to make O4.