By John Lucas, USMA ’69
Army Ranger and Special Forces Green Beret
Served with the 1st Calvary Division in Vietnam 

Trump derangement syndrome and its variant, Hegseth derangement syndrome (HDS), continue to infect an undetermined number of victims in the military. Like the original affliction, this new strain is a debilitating malady that deprives the aggrieved victim of the ability to think and act rationally.

Like the sufferers of TDS who warn the country that Trump is politicizing the justice system by investigating and prosecuting some who have opposed him, the HDS symptoms can include a total lack of self-awareness that it is their own actions that are the problem.

It leads the sufferers into behavior that, had they not lost their wits, they would recognize as highly improper, even destructive.

The Officers Bellyache, Publicly but Anonymously

The latest manifestation of HDS is documented by The Washington Times in “‘He lost us’: Generals, senior officers say trust in Hegseth has evaporated.” In it, The Times serves as a vehicle for anonymous “generals” and other officers to lambast and denigrate Secretary of War Pete Hegseth following his late September speech at Quantico. The lede sets the tone:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has lost the trust and respect of some top military commanders, with his public “grandstanding” widely seen as unprofessional and the personnel moves made by the former cable TV host leading to an unprecedented and dangerous exodus of talent from the Pentagon, said current senior military officers and current and former Defense Department officials.

Numerous high-ranking officers painted Mr. Hegseth’s Sept. 30 speech to hundreds of generals and admirals gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia as a turning point in how his leadership style, attitude and overall competency are viewed in the upper echelons of the U.S. armed forces.

“It was a massive waste of time …,” one current Army general told The Washington Times.

Let’s take a look at some of the attacks that the officers make. The “current general” quoted in the article’s title anoints himself to speak for all the generals in the military: “If he ever had us, he lost us.”

Huh? “IF he ever had us ….”? Translation: “We probably never supported him, but now we sure don’t.”

Informants lament the “unprecedented chaos” in the Pentagon, evidenced by a “level of turnover among high-ranking officers … not … seen in recent history.”

However, they appear blissfully oblivious to the fact that it is precisely high-ranking anonymous complainers who demonstrate the need for a thorough housecleaning in the Pentagon. That includes General If-He-Ever-Had-Us.

Many complainers clearly grouse that Secretary Hegseth has a “seeming obsession with reversing the woke military policies of past administrations.” Officers cited by The Times describe Hegseth as “viewing the job through the lens of a junior officer, which has often led him to fixate on issues that otherwise could be left to the services or lower-ranking officials.” He is engaged in “grandstanding,” “theater,” and as a “current senior officer” wants everyone to know, “mainly what I see from him are not serious things.” It’s “internal politics and drama. That’s mostly what I see.” According to another anonymous “current senior officer,” apparently Hegseth’s cleaning house of low-performing staff shows he is presiding over the “opposite of a meritocracy.”

Mr. Secretary, Don’t You Dare Lecture Us About Problems That We Failed to Correct

One of the complainers’ principal criticisms is that Secretary Hegseth has what one “source” labeled “the mentality of a midgrade officer” who lectured the generals about “fitness, grooming standards and other issues that typically don’t reach the desk of the defense secretary.” The aforementioned “current army general” felt compelled to be quoted about Hegseth’s focus on lax grooming standards by saying that it’s “not about f— haircuts.”

Lax fitness and grooming standards. Could he be talking about this guy?

The anonymous “generals” and other unnamed “senior officers” are like the proverbial prodigal son who killed his parents and then pleaded for mercy because he was an orphan. They are the authors of that which they now complain.

It is correct that such matters ordinarily are not addressed at the secretary’s level. But Hegseth was compelled to address them because many of these things, such as grooming and physical fitness standards, have not been adequately addressed at lower levels.

Some say that the problem has reached endemic levels in some units.

If generals had rigorously enforced high standards, then the secretary of war would not have to do so. This was the secretary telling his generals to get on the job.

Rank Insubordination from a Coterie of Cowards

The anonymous officers who trash the secretary of war reveal their hearts by engaging in rank insubordination while hiding their identities. The Washington Times says it was because “of their concern that they would be fired for providing their honest assessments.” No, their anonymity is a reflection of their cowardice, not their commitment to truth.