(Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rebuked his potential successor for his opposition to women serving in combat roles, saying it would be wrong and counterproductive to undo decades of progress.
“If I get a little fired up about this, it’s just because this isn’t 1950, it isn’t 1948 — it is 2024,” Austin said in a speech at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. “Any military that turns away talented patriots, women or men, is just making itself weaker and smaller. So — enough already.”
Austin didn’t mention Pete Hegseth by name but the remark appeared aimed at President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next secretary of Defense. In repeated comments, Hegseth has said he opposes women in combat roles.
“It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated,” Hegseth told Shawn Ryan’s podcast last month. “Women have a place in the military, just not in special operations, artillery, infantry and armor units.”
Hegseth’s nomination to replace Austin once Trump becomes president has looked increasingly tenuous in recent days amid reports of sexual assault, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of a veterans organization. People familiar with the matter have said Trump is considering replacing Hegseth with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Hegseth has so far refused to withdraw his name from consideration, saying he still has Trump’s backing.
Austin also remarked on military leadership skills.
“American soldiers will run through walls for good leaders, and I mean that literally,” Austin said. “You have to lead them from the front. You have to lead with principle. You have to lead with guts. You have to lead with humility and you have to lead by example.”
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