Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced 33 new directives Monday to overhaul the U.S. military's professional education system, delivering a speech at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he declared that senior service colleges have drifted from their core mission of producing warfighters.
"At my direction, I'm announcing 33 new directives. A complete overhaul to reform our Department of War senior service colleges. To forge leaders of unmatched competence, sound moral judgment, and resolute warrior ethos," Hegseth said, according to RedState, which reported on the speech. "That memo and those 33 directives will be arriving in your inbox today."
The memorandum, titled "Reforming Professional Military Education to Forge Warfighters and Secure Victory" and dated November 9, orders immediate reforms across Senior Service Colleges and Intermediate Level Education institutions, Newsweek reported. The directive assigns implementation responsibilities across the military services, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and senior Pentagon leadership, with deadlines ranging from 90 to 270 days.
From 80-Page Theses to War Games
Among the most significant changes Hegseth outlined: the elimination of the traditional 80-page theoretical written thesis as the primary capstone of war college achievement. In its place, the Pentagon will establish competitive AI-assisted war gaming and high-stress decision-forcing scenarios as the centerpiece of senior officer evaluation.
"There will be no more 80-page theoretical written theses as the primary capstone of war college achievement," Hegseth said. "In its place, we are establishing competitive SI-assisted war gaming and high-stress decision forcing scenarios as the centerpiece of senior officer evaluation."
The defense secretary credited the Naval War College with already conducting two such AI-assisted war games this year, calling it a focal point of where the institution wants to go.
Hegseth also announced the creation of a permanent intercollege wargaming architecture across all senior service colleges. He said the colleges will execute interconnected capstone war games, linking live, virtual and constructive forces. The exercises will test students against "complex unscripted peer adversary maneuvers" and feed directly into newly established joint warfighter exercises and evaluations.
"No longer will jointness be reduced to an Army colonel and a Navy captain sharing coffee in the same seminar room," Hegseth said. "True jointness is forged under competitive operational friction."
The memorandum also directs the Pentagon to strengthen instruction on constitutional principles, civil-military relations and the legal responsibilities of commissioned officers.
Hegseth's written directive stated plainly: "The fundamental purpose of the Armed Forces of the United States is to fight and win our Nation's wars. There is no substitute for victory."
He criticized what he described as "academic drift" within professional military education, arguing that institutions had prioritized theory and ideological concerns over practical military preparation.
Impeachment Threat Looms as Hegseth Acts
The announcement came the same day Rep. Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries publicly backing the effort. Newsweek reported that the push stems from the Trump administration's handling of the Iran war."
Asked about the impeachment effort, Hegseth said he is "not worried" about it, according to reporting from the Daily Beast. The RedState post on X linked to the outlet's original report on the speech.
The 33 directives arrive as a direct challenge to the educational establishment inside the Pentagon — an institution Hegseth has repeatedly argued is more focused on career advancement and academic credentialing than on preparing officers to win wars.
Details on the full scope of the 33 directives were not immediately available. It is not yet known whether Congress will attempt to block or defund any of the changes, or whether the impeachment articles will advance beyond the House Judiciary Committee.
Our Take
For years, America's war colleges have been treated by the Pentagon's administrative class as finishing schools for careerists — a place to write a paper nobody reads, collect a credential, and check a box on the way to a star. Hegseth is putting an end to that.
Replacing 80-page theoretical theses with AI-assisted war games and high-stress decision-forcing scenarios is not a small bureaucratic tweak. It is a fundamental reordering of what the military values in its future generals. The message is clear: we are not promoting officers because they can write a well-cited paper on "systemic" this or "intersectional" that. We are promoting officers because they can think, decide and lead when the bullets are flying.
The fact that the Left's immediate response was to file impeachment articles — not to engage with the substance of the reforms — tells you everything about their priorities. Massie and Jeffries can posture all they want. But the American people elected Donald Trump to tear down a military bureaucracy that has spent two decades lecturing officers on ideology while losing wars. Hegseth is doing exactly what he was hired to do.
The question now is whether the Pentagon's permanent bureaucracy will slow-walk these directives or whether the warriors will finally get the schools they deserve. Patriots should watch the implementation deadlines closely — and hold every commandant accountable.
