Current SecDef is Lloyd Austin. Compare and contrast his record with Hesketh's.
Okay, you asked for it.
Austin graduated from the USMA with a B.S. (which is no BS, the USMA won't spend 4 years teaching crap to potential combat leaders, so I'll give him that). He later earned a Master of Arts degree in counselor education from Auburn University's College of Education in 1986, and a Master of Business Administration in business management from Webster University in 1989...meh.
His only combat experience is at the 1,2, and 3-star level and he's never fired a shot in anger. He got a silver star for Iraq and Afghanistan under fishy circumstances (it's the 3rd highest medal you can get, and the soldiers who wear that medal usually have a LOT of enemy blood on their hands).
This is from Politico:
"Austin faced particularly tough questions in 2015 about the U.S. military’s role training forces in Syria to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria during the country’s civil war, acknowledging that the U.S. spent some $500 million but trained only a handful of fighters.
The late Sen. John McCain interrogated Austin about the U.S. military’s fight against ISIS in a memorable 2015 hearing that at some points left the general at a loss for words.
“I must say, I’ve been a member of this committee for nearly 30 years, and I have never heard testimony like this, never,” McCain said.
Austin’s appearance before the committee on Syria “was one of the most awkward I ever witnessed,” one former Senate Armed Services Committee aide to McCain told POLITICO. While McCain held Austin in high esteem, the senator was “clearly frustrated with and disappointed in his leadership at CENTCOM,” the aide said, adding that other lawmakers felt the same.
“It was a sad encapsulation of an incoherent Syria policy marred by a long string of military failures made uncomfortable by General Austin’s apparent inability to confront the reality of the situation and present a compelling way forward,” the former aide said.
Another cloud hanging over the command at the time was allegations that Central Command downplayed intelligence reports on the threat posed by the terrorist group and painted a brighter picture of the progress of U.S. military efforts."
After he retired, he got on the board of directors at Raytheon. Heard of them? BIG defense contractor! Had to get a waiver from congress to be the secdef. But this is a pretty typical career track for generals (James Mattis had to do the same thing, I think). Look up military/industrial complex in the dictionary and you'll probably see a picture of a retired American field grade officer standing next to a Raytheon missile.
Also, a lot of people
"who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak bluntly", said it just plain sucked working for him.
On a personal note, even as a Christian, I find it difficult to forgive him for his part in the disastrous, deadly retreat from Afghanistan.
I like to compare Hegseth to Reagan's secretary of the navy, John Lehman, at least in terms of potential. John Lehman was the father of the 600-ship navy, he flew combat missions in Vietnam and eventually retired as a navy commander (one pay grade above Hegseth) although he was still active in the navy reserve when he was tapped for the secretary of the navy, hated the bloated bureaucracy and budgets of the navy, and was only 38 years old when he was appointed.
