FORT WAYNE, IN — U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth railed against a formerly "woke" culture in the U.S. military and outlined plans to rebuild and restore the troops at U.S. Sen. Jim Banks' annual defense summit here Nov. 12.

Hegseth called the military under former President Joe Biden "woke and weak," tapping into themes from a previous address to military commanders in Quantico, Virginia .

The criticism has been a cornerstone of Hegseth's tenure at the Department of Defense, which President Donald Trump changed to the Department of War via an executive order earlier this year. Hegseth has implemented stricter fitness and grooming standards and said he plans to root out "social justice" and "political correctness" with the ultimate goal of restoring a "warrior ethos" in the militar

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