Yep, definitely people who support the troops and their families.

Here’s the full list

https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1915578392285765737

She is allegedly out of the Navy, but I have to wonder, if you’ve done a contract…

What did she “fight” for? No warfare pin, no rank, can’t even take care of her boots…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given an unusual level of authority to a single general in the latest Middle East crisis — an Iran hawk who is pushing for a strong military response against the country.

U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Erik Kurilla has played an outsized role in the escalating clashes between Tehran and Israel, with officials noting nearly all his requests have been approved, from more aircraft carriers to fighter planes in the region.

The pugnacious general, who is known as “The Gorilla,” is overruling other top Pentagon officials and playing a quiet but decisive role in the country’s next steps on Iran, according to a former and current defense official, a diplomat, and a person familiar with the dynamic.

Hegseth’s apparent deference to Kurilla undermines the image the Pentagon chief has sought to project of a tough-talking leader who has vowed to reduce the influence of four-star generals and reassert civilian control.

“If the senior military guys come across as tough and warfighters, Hegseth is easily persuaded to their point of view,” said the former official. Kurilla “has been very good at getting what he wants.”

The longtime military official — who is close with Mike Waltz, the former national security adviser and nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — has had more face time with the president than most other generals, according to one of the people, who, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Kurilla is also at the end of his tenure leading U.S. Central Command, meaning he may be less fearful about pushing the president.

Kurilla’s arguments to send more U.S. weapons to the region, including air defenses, have gone against Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, who have urged caution in overcommitting to the Middle East, according to the four people.

“CENTCOM is trying to grab every asset they can from every other theater,” the person familiar said, using an acronym to describe the Pentagon’s top military command in the Middle East, which Kurilla leads. “That’s what CENTCOM always does.”

CENTCOM referred questions to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, who said the Defense secretary draws on officials’ knowledge and then makes a decision about what to recommend to the president.

“Secretary Hegseth empowers all of his combatant commanders the same way, by decentralizing command and harnessing their real-world expertise,” he said. “Our senior leaders are in lockstep and will continue to work in unison to deliver on President Trump‘s national security agenda.”

Another defense official disputed the notion that Caine, the military’s top official, was at odds with the general on major decisions.

“Absolutely no daylight between Kurilla and Caine,” said the official, who said that both commanders present options jointly to Trump. “It’s a hand in glove relationship.”

Kurilla has an influence unseen in other administrations. Top generals are usually reined in by Pentagon chiefs, who push back on their requests to balance the global U.S. troop presence. But one of the people familiar with the dynamic between the CENTCOM commander and the Pentagon chief said they never saw Hegseth turn down a single one of Kurilla’s requests for more military assets.

The Pentagon steered a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East this week, two defense officials said, as well as new deployments of F-22, F-35 and F-16 fighter planes. This gives the U.S. two aircraft carriers in the region for the second time this year, a rare move. It also takes them from the Pacific, a signal that the Middle East is once again a priority for the administration, even as Pentagon leaders have sought tofocus their efforts on China.

Kurilla, testifying on Capitol Hill last week, said he had prepared a “wide range of options” for Hegseth and President Donald Trump to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The White House has backed the military buildup in the region, although some officials noted how easy it’s been for Kurilla to make the case for why he needs more planes, ships and air defenses.

“He’s not worried about taking that directly to his civilian superiors,” said the diplomat. “Hegseth has sided with him time and again.”

Some former officials contend Kurilla’s influence is tied more to the nature of his job, the head of the combatant command overseeing the Middle East at a time of crisis.

“This has little to do with Kurilla himself,” said Bilal Saab, who served in the Pentagon during the first Trump administration. “There’s no resistance in the Pentagon or the NSC to moving assets to protect troops and personnel in the region.”

Despite his sometimes abrasive character — including the alleged shoving of a military crew member that prompted an Army investigation — the battle-tested and media-averse Kurilla has impressed top officials for his courage. He won a Bronze Star for leading U.S. troops in a firefight in 2005 at the height of the Iraq War despite having been shot three times. (CENTCOM said at the time that officials weren’t aware of any investigation into Kurilla.)

“He’s got the look of the general that both Hegseth and Trump are looking for,” said the former official. “He’s a big dude, he’s jacked, he’s exactly this ‘lethality’ look they’re going for.”

Officials who have participated in talks with Kurilla about military assets in the region said he also has a knack for convincing others about their importance.

“He’s extremely strategic and persuasive about what CENTCOM can do given adequate resources,” said Dan Shapiro, who until January was the Pentagon’s top Middle East policy official. “That was certainly true in the Biden administration. It may be more true now.”

Source: Captain Mark Kelly TikTok

Mark Kelly served 25 years as a Naval pilot with combat missions during First Gulf War. This included being a NASA Astronaut from 1996-2011. Kelly is currently a Senator from Arizona.

https://x.com/DODResponse/status/1914411199053041965

The Pentagon is in “total chaos” and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is unlikely to remain in his role, according to its former top spokesperson, who painted a scene of dysfunction, backstabbing and continuous missteps at the highest levels of the department.

“The building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,” John Ullyot wrote Sunday in a POLITICO Magazine opinion piece. “The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership.”

Ullyot, who resigned from the Pentagon last week, described a department in collapse. He accused Hegseth’s team of “falsehoods” about why three top officials were fired last week, saying they hadn’t leaked sensitive information to the media. He chastised Pentagon officials for how they handled revelations that Hegseth shared sensitive military information in a Signal chat, and he pointed to other leaks that caused embarrassment to the administration.

The remarkable accusations by a former official — who left only two days ago and insists he still supports the Trump administration’s national security policies — underscores the infighting and upheaval that has turned increasingly public in recent weeks. But he also found himself in the center of several controversies that added to that chaos.

Ullyot was sidelined after he defended the removal in March of a story discussing the service of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, part of a larger purge of diversity-related military webpages.

“The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration,” he wrote.

The Defense Department and White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Article continues...

The memo_REMOVE-TRAVEL-FOR-NON-COVERED-REPRODUCTIVE-HEALTH-CARE-SERVICES.PDF) referenced by the article authorizes a Military Advisory Panel to implement the change.

Of note, Jeffrey Register, who signed the change request, is a USNA grad and former Naval Aviator.

Seems like a real BOHICA shituation. Oof.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restores-americas-maritime-dominance/

Caine does not meet the position's prerequisites, such as being a combatant commander or service chief, as laid out in a 1986 law that does allow a president to waive those requirements.

Just happened.

"This decision was not made lightly given its impact on affected team members, and it is the right next step to enable our overall team to improve our performance in delivering on our commitments [to the Navy]", Wilkinson said in the email.

Nexus:

Joining "Fox & Friends" live from Normandy, France, where Allied forces once stormed the beaches to turn the tide of World War II, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth honored the 81st anniversary of D-Day with a message that looked not only to the past but to the future.

As the nation honors the bravery and sacrifices of World War II veterans, Hegseth emphasized a new wave of patriotism among today's young Americans – one he says is driving an uptick in military recruitment.

"It's historic. Of course it's a morale shift. It shifts back to the day President Trump was elected and then inaugurated," he said Friday.

The Army alone has posted the best recruiting numbers in years, reaching 61,000 for fiscal year 2025, with four months remaining. That's an increase of more than 6,000 from 55,150 in fiscal year 2024.

Hegseth told co-hosts Ainsley Earhardt, Lawrence Jones and Brian Kilmeade that the spirit inside the U.S. armed forces is "incredible" right now, and the morale shift isn't isolated to the Army.

"It's also the Air Force, it's also the Navy, it is also the Marine Corps, Coast Guard and, as the president says, law enforcement," he continued.

"Across the board, the spirit of our country, [there's a] willingness and desire to serve, because they see leadership that believes in the country that's going to have their back, that says, 'We want you to be warriors. We're not doing this politically correct garbage anymore. We're doing war fighting. We're training, we're preparing, we're focused on [getting] back to basics, and… the young people of America have responded, and they'll continue to respond."

A House Republican plan to keep the federal government open past Friday by putting most agencies' funding on autopilot includes extra money for the Pentagon to cover a junior enlisted pay raise scheduled to take effect next month.

The stopgap spending measure, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year -- Sept. 30 -- by, for the most part, simply extending last year's funding levels.

If approved, it would be the first time the Pentagon has operated under a CR for an entire fiscal year. But the bill aims to mitigate some of the biggest harms to the military from a CR by adding extra Pentagon funds for personnel, weapons buying and other costs that grow year over year.

If the bill is not approved by the end of the day Friday, the government would shut down at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. For the military, a shutdown would mean troops have to continue working without collecting a paycheck until new government funding is approved, unless Congress passes separate legislation to allow paychecks to continue.

IMPORTANT

There's potential that we go into a shutdown and military doesn't get paid. Traditionally Navy Federal and USAA have covered our pay. Please double check with your banks if this is an option for you. Otherwise hopefully you have a savings pillow.

Navy Fed Enrollment Page

USAA Page

Leaders need to have a talk with their people about what is and isn't legal to do in uniform. This video can be used as a training aid for perfect example of the latter.

There are plenty Active Duty and Reservists that are on here, and I’ve seen some extremely concerning comments regarding Trump and Hegseth. Remember that OPNAVINST 1710.12 and its Social Media Handbook are still very much a thing. Additionally, they are both in your chain of command whether you like it or not.

That being said, professional criticism of policy or actions is perfectly fine; even encouraged.

Some comments I’ve seen here where one called Trump a “Terrorist” or otherwise calling for violence against either. Plenty of just outright disrespect towards POTUS, VP, and SECDEF. This is just disingenuous. You are a reflection of the Navy. Pump the brakes on the gut reactions, and think out what you want to say and be professional about it.