The United States (US) has said that its newly renamed Department of War will be singularly focussed on warfighting.

This was the message that US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave to hundreds of generals and admirals at a military base in Virginia this week.

“From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: warfighting, preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit not because we want war, no one here wants war, but it’s because we love peace” he said.

He framed the mood as urgent and tied deterrence to visible readiness and lethality. “This is a moment of urgency, mounting urgency. Enemies gather. Threats grow. There is no time for games. We must be prepared” Hegseth said.

He added: “this urgent moment of course requires more troops, more munitions, more drones, more Patriots, more submarines, more B-21 bombers. It requires more innovation, more AI in everything and ahead of the curve.”

The speech pivoted from hardware to people and culture, with an emphasis on discipline and appearance as Hegseth said: “This also means grooming standards. No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards...And that’s why today, at my direction, the era of unprofessional appearance is over.”

Hegseth further went on to mention that the existing systems whereby service members laid complaints had been weaponized and announced overhauls of inspector general and equal-opportunity processes. He called it the: “no more walking on eggshells policy.”

Rules in combat will also tighten around lethality, Hegseth stated: “We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our war fighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country...No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for war fighters.”

President Donald Trump followed Hegseth and gave political backing and funding commitments: “In this effort, we’re a team. And so, my message to you is very simple: I am with you, I support you, and as president, I have your backs 100%. You’ll never see me even waver a little bit...Together over the next few years, we’re going to make our military stronger, tougher, faster, fiercer and more powerful than it has ever been before,” Trump said.

On capabilities, Trump said: “We’re investing tens of billions of dollars in modernizing our nuclear deterrence capabilities like never before. And we’ve begun construction on what we call the ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense shield. It’ll be the most sophisticated in the world...Under my budget, we will be expanding the U.S. Navy by at least 19 ships next year, including submarines, destroyers, assault ships and more.”

Trump also linked the War Department name to a winning mindset: “We won the First World War; we won the Second World War; we won everything in between and everything before that. We only won.”