He announced 10 new directives that would shift the military’s culture away from what he called “woke garbage” and toward a “warrior ethos.”“This administration has done a great deal since Day 1 to remove the social justice, politically-correct, toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department,” Hegseth said. The commanders were already predominantly White men, and there were even fewer women in those ranks for today’s speech than there were when Hegseth took office. Hegseth has long argued — without substantive evidence — that women’s participation in the military has weakened the country’s war-fighting capabilities. Hegseth acknowledged that he fired several military leaders — including people of color and women — as part of his first actions as secretary. What Hegseth said about woke culture and ‘toxic leadership’“Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading, and we lost our way,” Hegseth said.